About the Artist
Rita Rogers was born in North Miami Beach and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She studied at Bard College, Columbia, the Art Student’s League and Yale’s Norfolk School of Art. In 1959, she moved from NY to Massachusetts, and then relocated to Newport, RI in 1972.
In 1977, nearly all of her early work was destroyed in a fire that leveled her house. After a period during which she concentrated on printmaking, she began to paint actively again in the late 70’s. During the I 980s she was recognized with a number of prestigious awards, including a Gottlieb Foundation Grant and painting fellowships at Yaddo and the Virginia Center for the Arts.
You’ll notice several consistent themes in her work, including the use of color, texture and space to create very strong and evocative compositions. The painting is sometimes theatrical, mounting layer upon layer of paint, stroke by stroke to develop kinetic imagery. Alternatively, other paintings are more contemplative and with their subtle gradation of hue and texture invite the viewer to stop and experience the sensation of quiet. In every instance, her work is soulful. It is felt. The resulting imagery is so powerful that once encountered, one cannot help but feel enthralled and moved.