Warren Rohrer: ... To Make a Live Painting, 2010
48 pages, Softcover
Published by Locks Art Publications
ISBN: 978-1-879173-58-3
... To Make a Live Painting is a publication accompanying an exhibition that featuring work dating from the mid 1970s through the early 1980s - most of which were not exhibited for more than twenty-five years. This publication also features selections of the artist's writing (reproduced as the original handwritten and typewritten pages) and his sketches. Rohrer's history (a descendant of 18th century Mennonite farmers) and relationship with the Pennsylvania landscape served as a continual source of inspiration. Paintings such as White Wheat and Orchard are defined by layers of illuminated color and precisely articulated surfaces. His application of incremental brushstrokes in orderly rows creates an illusion of grand scale independent of the size of each canvas. In 1976, the artist wrote, "My subject is the STROKE. A color event sets me off. From the ground of the canvas to the final layer of paint I work at maintaining a life of stroke and color ... to make a live painting." Warren Rohrer taught for 25 years at the Philadelphia College of Art. The subject of a retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2003, Rohrer's work is represented in many museum collections, including: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; The Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, both in Philadelphia, PA; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA; and the Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE. Locks Gallery has represented the artist since 1974.
