| 
 |
Barbara Rachko's work is full of dichotomies.
Her characters are playfully childlike, yet ominously bizarre.
In the Domestic Threats series of paintings on sandpaper
she uses pastels to create intense, brilliant colors. Her
perspective is precise, yet skewed. Her settings are disturbingly
real and comically humorous. To experience her work is to
take a trip into a fantasyland gone awry.
Rachko earned her BA at the University
of Vermont. She has also studied at New York Academy of
Art, the University of MD, Georgetown University and Art
Leagues School in Virginia. She shows extensively from CA
to NY and VT to FL. Selected collections include the Office
of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, DC. In 2004 solo
exhibits include "Domestic Threats," Edward Williams
Gallery, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Hackensack, NJ;
"Domestic Threats," Cambridge Multicultural Art
Center, Cambridge, MA; and "Domestic Threats,"
Louise Jones Brown Gallery, Duke University, Durham, NC.
Art center and gallery group exhibit locations span NY,
NJ and CT. In 2005 her exhibition schedule includes the
Mexican Cultural Institute, New York, NY and Loyola University,
Chicago, IL, as well as New Orleans, Fayetteville, AR, Richmond,
VA, Naples, FL, Sylvania, OH, Madrid, NM, and Burlingame,
CA. Exhibitions for 2003 included Monique Goldstrom, New
York, NY; "Suspended Narratives," Fine Arts Center
Galleries, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI; "Fetish
and Ritual," Bruce Gallery of Art, Edinboro University
of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA; "International Works
on Paper Exhibition," William Whipple Art Gallery,
Southwest State University, Marshall, MN, among others.
Selected bibliography includes 2000 Outstanding People,
2003, nternational Biographical Center, Cambridge, England,
Greg Schaber, "Paint What's Important," (Feature
Article), The Artist's Sketchbook, Jan. 2003, and "Self-Publishing
a Catalogue," (Feature Article), American Artist, Daniel
Grant, February 2004.
Mexico provides spiritual influence for
Rachko, and the incorporation of its cultural objects in
a lively blend of reality and fantasy is obvious in her
work. So is her strong drawing skill which lends itself
well to her unique, innovative style.
|
 |
