Rosalyn Drexler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rosalyn Drexler
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Rosalyn Drexler at her publisher's office
(circa 1960) |
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| Born |
Rosalyn Bronznick
November 25, 1926 |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Painting |
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Notable work
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Marilyn Pursued by Death, 1963 |
| Movement | Pop art |
| Spouse(s) | Sherman Drexler (1925-2014; his death) |
Rosalyn Drexler (born November 25, 1926) is an American visual artist, writer, and former professional wrestler. She is known for her Pop art paintings. She also wrote the book version of the famous movie Rocky under the pen name Julia Sorel. Rosalyn Drexler lives and works in New York City, New York.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Rosalyn Bronznick was born in 1926 in the Bronx, New York. She grew up in the Bronx and East Harlem. As a child, she saw many live shows like vaudeville acts. Her parents also encouraged her interest in art by buying her posters, books, and crayons.
She went to the High School of Music and Art in New York City. There, she focused on singing. She attended Hunter College for only one semester. In 1946, at age 19, she married painter Sherman Drexler. She appears in many of his paintings. They had a daughter and a son together.
Professional Wrestling Career
In 1951, Rosalyn Drexler and her husband lived near a gym in New York. Many female professional wrestlers trained there. A friend suggested she try wrestling, and she started working out at the gym.
She learned how to wrestle without hurting anyone. She also learned how to make a lot of noise during matches to make them seem more exciting. Drexler traveled for wrestling matches, going to the South and Florida. She wrestled as "Rosa Carlo, the Mexican Spitfire." She even wrestled in unusual places like a graveyard and an airplane hangar. There is a photo of her preparing to fight Mae Young, a famous wrestler.
She toured around the country but returned home because she was upset about racism in the southern states. She saw things like separate seating and water fountains for different races. Later, artist Andy Warhol made paintings based on a photo of Drexler as Rosa Carlo.
Drexler's wrestling experiences inspired her 1972 novel To Smithereens. She wrote the book because she disliked the experience but wanted to make something from it. This novel was later made into the 1980 film Below the Belt.
She also created several paintings about women's wrestling. These include Take Down (1963), Lost Match (1962), and The Winner (1965).
Writing Career
Rosalyn Drexler has written many books and plays. She also wrote screenplays for movies.
Novels
- I Am the Beautiful Stranger (1965)
- One or Another (1970)
- To Smithereens (1972)
- The Cosmopolitan Girl (1974)
- ... Widow (1975)—written as Julia Sorel
- Starburn: The Story of Jenni Love (1979)
- Bad Guy (1982)
- Art Does (Not!) Exist (1996)
- ... Lives (2007)
Adapted Screenplays
She wrote these movie scripts under the name Julia Sorel:
- Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976)
- Rocky (1976)—Based on the script by Sylvester Stallone
- Alexander, The Other Side of Dawn (1977)
- See How She Runs (1978)
Plays
- Home Movies (1964)
- The Line of Least Existence and Other Plays (1967)
- "Skywriting" in Collision Course (1968)
- "Hot Buttered Roll" in Theatre Experiment: An Anthology of American Plays (1968)
- Methuen Playscripts (1969)
- "Home Movies" in The Off-Off Broadway Book: The Plays, People, Theatre (1972)
- Fiction (1972)
- "Skywriting" in A Century of Plays by American Women (1979)
- Transients Welcome: Three One-Act Plays (1984)
- "Occupational Hazard" in Women on the Verge: 7 Avant-Garde American Plays (1993)
Television Work
Drexler was one of 15 writers for the 1973 CBS comedy special Lily. This show starred Lily Tomlin, Alan Alda, and Richard Pryor.
Visual Arts Career
Drexler started making sculptures from found objects for her home. This was when she lived in Berkeley, California. Her husband was finishing his art degree there. These sculptures were made from plaster around scrap metal and wood.
In 1955, Drexler showed her first artworks alongside her husband's paintings. She continued to show her art after they moved to New York City. One art critic called her early sculptures "ridiculous and nutty" but said they had a "real beauty."
Her works were shown in New York in 1960 at the Reuben Gallery. She also took part in "Happenings" there, which were art events. Artists like David Smith and Franz Kline praised her work. When the Reuben Gallery closed, she didn't get many offers because women sculptors were not as popular then. She quickly switched to painting to try and get more work. She did many different jobs to earn money, like being a waitress or a masseuse.
By 1961, Drexler began making Pop Art paintings. She looked through old magazines, posters, and newspapers for images. She would enlarge these images, glue them onto canvas, and then paint over them with bright colors. She often used Elmer's Glue in her art. Drexler has never had her own art studio and usually works at home.
Drexler signed with Kornblee Gallery and had solo shows there from 1964 to 1966. In January 1964, her art was in the "First International Girlie Exhibit" at Pace Gallery in New York. She and Marjorie Strider were the only two women Pop artists in this show. Other artists included Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Tom Wesselmann. Drexler's collages were made from images cut from magazines. Some people were shocked by her work, but her paintings were mostly well-liked.
Her Pop paintings continued to get good reviews and were shown in major Pop art exhibitions in the 1960s. However, she did not become as famous as many male artists. The main ideas in her paintings, like conflict in relationships and social issues, were often controversial. She later said, "I was happy being productive and having good friends and being ignored. But now I'm getting angry about it, looking back!"
More recently, Drexler's Pop paintings have been seen as early feminist artworks. She did not agree with this idea, saying her work wasn't meant to be political. However, in 1968, she signed a pledge to refuse tax payments to protest the Vietnam War.
In 2018, her work received new attention. The Rose Art Museum held a special exhibition looking back at her career. In 2022, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden named an exhibit after her 1963 painting "Put it this way."
Major Themes and Works
Drexler's art often explores the roles of women in old movies and stories. She uses images from public media that are easy to understand.
Her The Love and Violence series shows difficult relationships between men and women. These paintings look like covers of old pulp fiction books or movie posters. Works like I Won't Hurt You (1964), This is My Wedding (1963), and Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) show different kinds of tension between people. Other works in this series include The Bite (1963) and Baby, It's Alright (1963).
Is It True What They Say About Dixie? (1966) was inspired by a newspaper photo. It showed Bull Connor, a police chief, leading a group of white supremacists. The painting uses a song title to comment on racial conflict at the time. Another painting, F.B.I. (1964), shows government agents.
The Men and Machines series shows working men with different types of equipment. These paintings reflect the idea of new technology during the Cold War era. Pilot to Tower (1966) is one painting in this series. Marilyn Pursued by Death (1967) shows Marilyn Monroe being followed by a man.
Paintings based on movie posters include King Kong aka The Dream (1963), which was inspired by the movie Konga. Another is Chubby Checker (1964), based on the poster for the musical Twist Around the Clock.
Connections with Other Artists
Drexler was friends with artists like Franz Kline, Bill, and Elaine de Kooning. She also knew Eva Hesse, George Segal (whom she posed for), Lucas Samaras, Claes Oldenburg, and Alice Neel.
Solo Exhibitions
- Reuben Gallery, New York (1960)
- Rosalyn Drexler, Kornblee Gallery, New York (1964, 1965, 1966)
- Rosalyn Drexler, Ward-Nasse Gallery, Boston (1964)
- Rosalyn Drexler, The Contemporary Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Kansas City, Missouri (1967)
- Rosalyn Drexler: Intimate Emotions, Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University, New York (1986)
- Life: The Magic Show, La MaMa Galleria, New York (1992)
- Nothing Personal: Recent Paintings, Maurine and Robert Rothschild Gallery, Bunting Institute, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1998)
- I Won't Hurt You: Paintings, 1962–1999, Nicholas Davies Gallery, New York (2000)
- Rosalyn Drexler: To Smithereens, Paintings, 1961–2003, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia (2004)
- Rosalyn Drexler and the Ends of Man: Works from 1961–2001, Paul Robeson Gallery, Rutgers University–Newark (2006)
- Rosalyn Drexler: I Am the Beautiful Stranger, Paintings of the '60s, Pace Wildenstein, New York (2007)
- Rosalyn Drexler: ... Lives, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York (2015)
- Rosalyn Drexler: Who Does She Think She Is?, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts (2016)
Public Art Collections
Rosalyn Drexler's art can be found in many museums and public collections, including:
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
- Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut
- Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
- Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
Awards and Honors
Rosalyn Drexler has received many awards for her work:
- 1964 Obie Award for Distinguished Play, Home Movies
- 1965, 1968, 1974, 1986 Rockefeller Grants in Playwriting
- 1966 Paris Review Humor Prize, Dear
- 1970-71 Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction
- 1973 Emmy Award for Best Writing for Comedy-Variety (Special Program), Lily
- 1979 Obie Award for Best Playwriting, The Writer's Opera
- 1985 Obie Award for Best Playwriting, Transients Welcome
- 1990 New York Foundation for the Arts, Grant in Playwriting
- 1991 National Endowment for the Arts, Grant in Theater
- 1994, 2000 Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Grant in Painting
- 1997-98 Bunting Fellowship at Radcliffe College/Harvard University, Visual Arts-Painting
- 2005 Helen & George Segal Foundation, Grant in Painting
- 2007 Honorary Degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia
