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Dorothea Rockburne

Dorothea Rockburne

  • Biography
  • Works
  • Exhibitions
  • Publications
  • Press
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  • Biography
    an image of a woman in her studio
    Dorothea Rockburne in her studio, 2017 ©Charles Benton
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    Born in Montreal, Canada (1932). Lives and works in New York, NY. Attended the Montreal Museum School, Montreal, Canada (1948-1950). Attended Black Mountain College, Ashville, NC (1950-1952) where she studied with Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Cy Twombly, and Robert Rauschenberg among other contemporaries. While at Black Mountain College, the teachings of Max Dehn, a renowned German mathematician and close friend of Albert Einstein, made arguably the largest impact on Rockburne’s work. Dehn educated Rockburne about Pythagorean and Euclidean geometry, group theory and topology, and the concepts of harmonic intervals. Dehn’s teachings often merged the mathematical world and the natural world providing Rockburne with new and complex approaches to her work. Rockburne’s studies with Dehn, along with her interests in the Golden Mean, astronomy, cosmology and lifelong fascination with Egyptians’ use of proportion and light, invariably shaped her oeuvre. Working with varied materials including industrial wrinkle-finish paint, tar, carbon paper and metal as well as natural materials such as canvas, paper, and chipboard, Rockburne paints, cuts, draws, folds and calculates to create complex works of art built upon mathematical foundations. Selected museum exhibitions include Dorothea Rockburne, Dia:Beacon, Beacon, NY (2018); Dorothea Rockburne: In My Mind’s Eye, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY (2011); On Line: Drawing Through the 20th Century, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2010-11); The Women of Black Mountain College, Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Ashville, NC (2008-9); High Times, Hard Times, Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC (2006); Dorothea Rockburne, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA (1989); and Dorothea Rockburne: Locus, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (1981). Her work in in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, and the Auckland City Art Museum, Auckland, New Zealand among many others.
  • Works
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Black & White, 1987
    • a blue painted wall with two diamond shaped paintings
      Mozart and Mozart Upside Down and Backward, 1985-86
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Trumpeting Angel T/R/sS, 1981
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Parallelogram with two small squares (from Vellum Curve series), 1978
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Copol C, 1977
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Conservation Class #01, 1973
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Drawing Which Makes Itself (RP #2), 1973
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Ineiander Black 3: Tar Over, 1972
    • Series of white folded paper pieces
      Locus I-VI (a suite of six), 1972
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Small Torn White Paper, 1972
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Study for Scalar B, 1970
    • a geometric abstract drawing
      Two, 1970
  • Exhibitions
    • Dorothea Rockburne

      Dorothea Rockburne

      Special Presentation | Works on Paper 1972 - 1974: 2nd Floor Viewing Room September 8 - October 23, 2021
      Read more
    • Color(less)

      Color(less)

      October 28 - December 23, 2015
      Diebenkorn, Goldberg, Gorky, Held, Judd, Kline, LeWitt, Mangold, Motherwell, Rockburne, Sterne, Tobey Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present Color(less) , a selection of 14 works on paper by Richard...
      Read more
    • Frankenthaler, Rockburne, & Sterne

      Frankenthaler, Rockburne, & Sterne

      July 8 - August 28, 2015
      Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Helen Frankenthaler, Dorothea Rockburne, and Hedda Sterne. This exhibition will include a painting and drawing by each of...
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    • Dorothea Rockburne

      Dorothea Rockburne

      Locus I-VI June 2 - 12, 2014
      Dorothea Rockburne's Locus I-VI from 1972 will be on display in our Viewing Room on June 2. A variation of this series was on view in MoMA's recent exhibition Drawing...
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    • Group Show

      Group Show

      Weights & Measures October 5 - November 4, 2012
      Group Show Weights & Measures October 5 – November 4, 2012 | 195 Chrystie St, NY Leonor Antunes | Jo Baer | Elaine Cameron-Weir | Lygia Clark | Channa Horwitz...
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    • Women's Work

      Women's Work

      Paintings 1970 - 1990 March 22 - April 15, 2006
      Jennifer Bartlett • Lynda Benglis • Moira Dryer • Helen Frankenthaler • Mary Heilmann • Yayoi Kusama • Joan Mitchell • Elizabeth Murray • Dorothea Rockburne • Jessica Stockholder Greenberg...
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    • Tête à Tête

      Tête à Tête

      June 8 - July 8, 2005
      Group exhibition Jennifer Bartlett ~ Louise Belcourt ~ James Brooks ~ Tim Davis ~ Richard Diebenkorn Anthony Caro ~ Sharon Ellis ~ Paul Feeley ~ Mark Grotjahn ~ Wade Guyton...
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    • Black & White

      Black & White

      July 28 - September 18, 2004
      Group exhibition James Brooks Jessica Craig-Martin Richard Diebenkorn Benjamin Edwards Paul Graham Katy Grannan Malerie Marder Cameron Martin Marilyn Minter Dorothea Rockburne Sebastián Romo Aïda Ruilova Alexis Smith Greenberg Van...
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    • All American, Part II

      All American, Part II

      October 8 - November 2, 2002
      Group exhibition JENNIFER BARTLETT• WILLEM DE KOONING •RICHARD DIEBENKORN• SAM FRANCIS• HELEN FRANKENTHALER• ARSHILE GORKY• HANS HOFMANN• ELLSWORTH KELLY• FRANZ KLINE• ROBERT MOTHERWELL• GEORGIA O'KEEFFE• ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG• DOROTHEA ROCKBURNE• ED...
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    • Linger

      Linger

      June 13 - July 26, 2002
      Group exhibition Joe Andoe Jennifer Bartlett Richmond Burton Suzanne Caporael Jim Hodges Susan Jennings Alex Katz Roy Lichtenstein Cameron Martin Tony Matelli Sze Lin Pang Fairfield Porter Dorothea Rockburne Jason...
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    • Drawing & Painting

      Drawing & Painting

      February 14 - March 17, 2001
      Group exhibition Willem de Kooning Richard Diebenkorn Sam Francis Arshile Gorky Al Held Hans Hofmann Joan Mitchell Roy Lichtenstein Robert Rauschenberg Ad Reinhardt Dorothea Rockburne Philip Taaffe Frank Stella Lawrence...
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    • Dorothea Rockburne

      Dorothea Rockburne

      Ten Years of Astronomy Drawings 1990 - 2000 March 1 - April 1, 2000
      Lawrence Rubin · Greenberg Van Doren · Fine Art is pleased to present an exhibition of over thirty drawings on paper and panel by Dorothea Rockburne from 1990 – 2000....
      Read more
  • Publications
    • Dorothea Rockburne

      Dorothea Rockburne

      Ten Years of Astronomy Drawings 1990-2000 March 2001
      Book, Softcover, 40 pages
      ISBN: 0-9677573-0-4
      Read more
  • Press
    • Space Reconsidered

      by Sara Roffino, Art + Auction, May 31, 2016
    • Space Reconsidered

      by Sara Roffino, Art + Auction, May 1, 2016
    • FRANKENTHALER, ROCKBURNE & STERNE

      The New Yorker, August 28, 2015
    • Thought Embodied: Dorothea Rockburne’s Drawing Which Makes Itself

      Artcritical, January 28, 2014
    • Below the Fold: Dorothea Rockburne's Subtle Marvels

      By Emily Warner, The Village Voice, December 18, 2013
    • Dorothea Rockburne: Mathematical Ratios, Papered, Folded and Cut

      The New York Times, December 13, 2013
    • Dorothea Rockburne

      Art in America, October 4, 2011
    • Geometry of Stardust

      ARTnews, September 22, 2011
    • BOMB on the Scene: Dorothea Rockburne, Part 1

      by Richard J. Goldstein , BOMBLOG, September 8, 2011
    • Too Restless for the Rules

      The Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2011
    • First Dorothea Rockburne Retrospective on view at Parrish Art Museum

      artdaily.org, July 21, 2011
    • From Theorems and Numbers, the Geometry of a Diverse Career

      The New York Times, July 21, 2011
    • Dorothea Rockburne with David Levi Strauss and Christopher Bamford

      by David Levi Strauss and Christopher Bamford, The Brooklyn Rail, July 19, 2011
    • A Winning Formula: Dorothea Rockburne at the Parrish

      Art in America, July 19, 2011
    • The Art of Mathematics

      The Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2011
    • Exhibit Watch: The Parrish Art Museum

      Dorothea Rockburne
      Hamptons Magazine, July 8, 2011
    • 500 Words: Dorothea Rockburne

      Artforum, July 6, 2011
    • When Art and Math Collide, In a Good Way

      Dorothea Rockburne
      27East.com, June 27, 2011
    • Dorothea Rockburne Retrospective Opens at the Parrish

      Southampton Patch, June 23, 2011
    • The Parrish Art Museum Shows a Major Dorothea Rockburne Retrospective

      Artfortune.com, June 23, 2011
    • At Long Last: A Retrospective for Dorothea Rockburne

      Real Clear Arts, June 21, 2011
    • Artist as Ambassador

      The Huffington Post, June 20, 2011
    • The Place Where Math and Art Meet

      Dorothea Rockburne
      Sag Harbor Express, June 16, 2011
    • Rockburne's Mind's Eye

      East Hampton Star, June 15, 2011
    • Dorothea Rockburne: Astronomy Drawings at the New York Studio School

      by Robert C. Morgan, Artcritical.com, March 31, 2010
    • 'Colin Powell' Art Reaches For the Sky

      By Robin Shulman, The Washington Post, June 10, 2009
    • Robert Lawlor with Christopher Bamford and Dorothea Rockburne

      The Brooklyn Rail, November 30, 2008
    • High Times, Hard Times: New York Painting 1967-1975

      NA, February 15, 2007

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