Robert Rasely was born in 1950 and grew up in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. He trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art from 1978-82, studying with Will Barnet, Arthur DeCosta, Sidney Goodman, and Henry Pearson. In 1981 he received the William Emlen Cresson Scholarship, which allowed him to study in the Netherlands and Italy. The winner of numerous awards, Rasely was prolific during his relatively short career. Accolades included the 1978 First Prize Purchase Award of the Esther Klein Foundation and Rittenhouse Art Annual, a 1987 E.D. Foundation Fellowship Grant, the 1988 Clara Obrig Prize, and 1992 Emile & Dines Carlsen Award, both of the National Academy of Design. Rasely was the subject of exhibitions at Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco and Allan Stone Gallery, New York, and was included in group exhibitions at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT, the Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK, and the National Academy of Design in New York. His work has been featured in Better Homes & Garden, The Christian Science Monitor, Review Art, and ARTnews. Rasely died in 2005.
A synthesis of Surrealism, Baroque, Grotesque, and Italian Renaissance, Robert Rasely’s paintings envision an altered netherworld, with dream-like interiors and landscapes of genetically modified organisms. Quirky and delightful, though affected by a prevailing sense of unease, Rasely’s work combines the manic characteristics of a Bosch inferno with the delicate handling of Dutch vanitas paintings. What appears to be allusions to spirituality and holy significance are not overt allegories, but rather avenues and portals to engage the subconscious. Using fine brushes, hand-ground pigments, and a delicate hand, his lightly glazed oil-on-panel renderings of chimerical scenes and obscure symbols grapple with surreal undertones. Rasely's imagery of sacred hearts, birds, wells, innards, and decaying fruit challenges the viewer to find a concealed meaning within each painting. To wander through his enigmatic landscapes is to search the subconscious for the significance of life, and for the nature of beauty and ugliness.
Education:
1978-82 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
(studied painting under Wil Barnett and Arthur DeCosta, and restoration under Joe Amarotico).
Selected Group Exhibitions:
1978, Rittenhouse Art Annual, Esther Klein Foundation, Philadelphia, PA.
1981, Marian Locks Gallery, Invitational Group Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA.
1981, Suzanne Gross Gallery, Two Surrealists, Philadelphia, PA.
1982, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Philadelphia Painters Art Exposition, Loretto, PA.
1982, Marian Locks Gallery, New Talent, Philadelphia, PA.
1982, Marian Locks Gallery, December Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA.
1983, Marian Locks Gallery, Group Show, Philadelphia, PA.
1983, David Findlay, Jr. Gallery, Invitational Group Exhibition, New York, NY .
1984, Allan Stone Gallery, New Talent, New York, NY .
1984, David Findlay, Jr. Gallery, Drawing: Figures, New York, NY .
1984, David Findlay, Jr. Gallery, Invitational Still Life Exhibition, New York, NY .
1984, The Bruce Art Museum, The Recognizable Image, Greenwich, CT.
1985, The Arkansas Art Center, The Collector’s Show, Little Rock, AK .
1986, The Paine Art Center, The Object Revitalized, Oshkosh, WI .
1986, Charles Campbell Gallery, A View From Arcadia, San Francisco, CA .
1986, Schmidt Bingham Gallery, Delicious Drawings, New York, NY .
1986, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Nature Morte, Loretto, PA.
1986, National Academy of Design, New York, NY.
1986, Alice Bingham Gallery, Ten Contemporary Realists, Memphis, TN.
1986, Schmidt Bingham Gallery, Character Revealed, New York, NY .
1987, Schmidt Bingham Gallery, Beyond Observation, New York, NY .
1988, National Academy of Design, New York, NY.
1989, Tavelli Gallery, Vision & Visions, Aspen, CO .
1990, National Academy of Design, New York, NY.
1992, National Academy of Design, New York, NY.
1995, Allan Stone Gallery, New Talent, New York, NY .
1996, Allan Stone Gallery, Talent, New York, NY .
1997, Allan Stone Gallery, Talent, New York, NY .
One Person Exhibitions:
1983, Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
1986, Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco, CA .
1986, Schmidt Bingham Gallery, New York, NY.
1989, Schmidt Bingham Gallery, New York, NY.
1996, Allan Stone Gallery, New York, NY.
2011, Joel B. Garzoli Fine Art, San Francisco, CA.
Biography source: https://www.allanstoneprojects.com/robert-rasely