Dorothea Rockburne facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dorothea Rockburne
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Rockburne in Speaking Portraits
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| Born | 1932 (age 92–93) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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| Education | Black Mountain College |
| Known for | Mathematician, Astronomer, Abstract Artist |
Dorothea Rockburne (born in 1932) is a Canadian artist. She creates abstract art, which means her paintings don't show real-life objects. Instead, they use shapes, colors, and lines to express ideas or feelings. Dorothea gets many of her ideas from her deep interest in mathematics and astronomy.
Her artwork often looks simple but is very precise. She uses geometry and careful planning to show mathematical ideas. She once said she wanted to "see" the math equations she was studying. So, she started making them into art. She was visually solving equations through her paintings.
Her Artistic Journey
In 1950, Dorothea moved to the United States. She went to Black Mountain College, a special school where she learned from many famous artists and thinkers. One of her most important teachers was a mathematician named Max Dehn. He had a big influence on her work throughout her life.
She also studied with artists like Franz Kline and Philip Guston. She met other creative people like John Cage (a composer) and Merce Cunningham (a dancer). She even met a fellow student named Robert Rauschenberg, who became a famous artist.
In 1955, Dorothea moved to New York City. This city was a hub for artists and poets at the time. She was inspired by the modern dances of Yvonne Rainer and the Judson Dance Theater.
Dorothea has always made paintings that explore mathematical ideas. In 1958, she had her first art show. It was successful, but she felt her work wasn't good enough yet. So, she stopped showing her art publicly for over ten years.
During this time, she focused on dance and performance art. She took dance classes and performed at the Judson Dance Theater. To support her daughter, Christine, she worked as a waitress. She also managed the studio for her friend, Robert Rauschenberg.
In 1970, a gallery in New York called Bykert Gallery started showing her work again. This gallery also showed other well-known artists.
One of her famous series of artworks is called Set Theories. In this series, she explored mathematical concepts like "intersection." For example, she tried to combine two of her artworks to show how sets can overlap. This led her to try new ideas and materials, like gold leaf and carbon paper.
In 2011, a special exhibition of her work was held at the Parrish Art Museum in New York. This type of show, called a retrospective, looks back at an artist's work over many years. In 2013, the Museum of Modern Art in New York also had a show just for her drawings.
Dorothea Rockburne is a member of several important art groups. These include the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Academy of Design. In 2016, she received a special doctorate degree from Bowdoin College. She also became an Honorary Vice President of the National Association of Women Artists in 2009. This is the first professional art organization for women in the United States.
In 2021, her art was part of a big exhibition called Women in Abstraction at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Some of Her Artworks
Here are a few examples of Dorothea Rockburne's unique artworks:
- Fire Engine Red. 1967. This piece uses bright red paint on aluminum. It has a special "wrinkle finish."
- Scalar. 1971. This artwork uses chipboard, crude oil, paper, and nails. It's now at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. [1]
- Locus. 1972. This is a series of six prints made using a technique called etching and aquatint. They are on folded paper and are also at the Museum of Modern Art. [2]
- Golden Section Painting #6. 1975. This painting uses Kraft paper and blue pencil on linen. It explores the "golden section," a mathematical ratio often found in nature and art.
See also
In Spanish: Dorothea Rockburne para niños
