"Carbon black was used on the surface of caves: through the centuries black has continued to be present in painting's history; Diego Velázquez worked with black, and in Spanish painting it remained an paticularly important color. During the 1910s, Henri Matisse discovered black's potential function as light, and that the quantity of black is the quality of black; a discovery he subsequently applied to all his use of color; Matisse also discovered that in using only line on paper that it was possible to create different whites without actually adding color to the paper. On a painted surface both the amount of black, and the use of line, achieves both these effects. Black can stand for itself or remain ambiguous, not always representing something. Jackson Pollock used black, and left areas of canvas unpainted, as did Simon Hantaï, this reserve of canvas is significant of painting as tableaux.The thickness of paint in relation to surface is important, and for this impasto is not needed: tactility or touch is a crucial issue in painting, however much it has been diminished by discourse that prioritizes the visual over the haptic. For me, a painting need not be thought metaphysically; it can be both material and a state of becoming, the image arriving and departing constantly—as it does in a Cézanne—and not a static continuous presence. Art is also recursive, always bearing the sign of an eternal return of one kind or another."
— David Rhodes
David Rhodes (b. 1955 Manchester, England) is known for his simple and direct use of materials—brush, paint, canvas. Elemental facture and visual complexity are characteristic, and use of color is limited to black paint on raw canvas or Sumi ink on paper; drawing is concentrated to the use of diagonal line and vertical axis. The brevity of this approach is distinctive at a time when contemporary art tends toward spectacle. Utility is also important here, canvas and paint are used in a way that corresponds to both the handmade, and the surface of the day to day world. An ambiguous figure ground configuration and rhythmic pattern activates the picture plane; reemerging each time as new juxtapositions in ongoing iterative series. Diagonality, in dynamic relation to the rectangular shape of the painting, avoids the self-containment of deductive structuring and the grid. Both intention and contingency, precision and chance, interchange in a material process that obfuscates nothing yet insistently presents movement, contradiction and paradox. Although limits are set, and the medial constraints of paint and canvas are accepted, there is no proposition to be pursued to an end point: evident rather, is a consistent desire to both explore and renew painting with questioning and doubt. He describes his paintings as contingent states.
He has exhibited internationally including one-person exhibitions at Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London (1995); Palacete Viscondes de Balsemao, Porto (2004); Centrum, Berlin (2012); Galerie Katharina Krohn, Basel (2012); Hionas Gallery, New York (2013 and 2016); Tat Art, Barcelona (2017) and most recently Helm Contemporary, New York, (2024) and High Noon Gallery, New York (2024). His work has been included in numerous two-person and group exhibitions, including, Gary Stephan / David Rhodes at Hionas Gallery, New York (2019); Notebook curated by Joanne Greenbaum at 56 Henry, New York (2019); Downtown Painting curated by Alex Katz at Peter Freeman Inc., New York (2019); Unfurled at 1 GAP Gallery, New York (2021) curated by David Cohen; Singing in Unison at The Scully Tomasko Foundation and Below Grand, New York (2022) curated by Phong Bui and Cal McKeever; Machbarkeitsstudien, Glue, Berlin (2023) curated by Dag Przybilla, Beyond the Surface, at Westbeth Gallery, New York (2024) curated by Vida Geranmayeh and All Tomorrow's Parties, M.David & Co., New York (2024). He has independently curated exhibitions in London, Berlin, and New York, most recently Split at Zürcher Gallery, New York (2017). His work is in the permanent collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Huntington Museum, Los Angeles; The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; CCA Andratx, Mallorca, and The Bohuslans Museum, Uddevalla. He was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and nominated for a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award in 2022. After living in London, Berlin and Barcelona he now lives in New York City.
2024
Positions, Galerie oqbo, Berlin Art Fair, Berlin (D)
Mondrian 80, Norte Maar, New York (US)
Jason Andrew and Max Estenger
All Tomorrow's Parties, M.David & Co., New York (US)
Twenty Years, Glue, Berlin (D)
Curated by Dag Przybilla
Aletheia, High Noon Gallery, New York (solo) (US)
Partita, Helm Contemporary, New York (solo) (US)
Beyond the Surface, Westbeth Gallery, New York (US)
Curated by Vida Geranmayeh
2023
Machbarkeitsstudien, GLUE, Berlin (D)
Curated by Dag Przybilla
Positions, Galerie oqbo, Berlin Art Fair, Berlin (D)
2022
Monotypes, Hemmings Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho (US)
Singing in Unison, Part 2
The Scully Tomasko Foundation, New York (US)
Curated by Phong Bui and Cal McKeever
Singing in Unison, Part 3
Below Grand, New York (US)
Curated by Phong Bui and Cal McKeever
2021
Ten, Hionas Gallery, New York (US)
Unfurled, 1 GAP Gallery, New York (US)
Curated by David Cohen
The Secret Garden, Equity Gallery, New York (US)
Curated by David Cohen
2020
From Dark to Light, Jason McCoy Gallery, New York (US)
Curated by Stephanie Buhmann
Letter From New York, Marcin Muchalski / David Rhodes
Jason McCoy Gallery, New York (US)
Curated by Stephanie Buhmann
2019
Playtime, Arthouse 1, London (UK)
Curated by Sharon Hall
Summer, CCA Kunsthalle, Andratx, Mallorca (ES)
Downtown Painting, Peter Freeman Inc., New York (US)
Curated by Alex Katz
Notebook, 56 Henry, New York (US)
Curated by Joanne Greenbaum
SNOP, The Great Highway Gallery, San Francisco (US)
Bethanien, Berlin (D)
New York (US)
Redesign, Eric Firestone Loft, New York (US)
Morgner, Soest (D)
Alison Blickle, David Cantoni, Christopher Deeton, Shirley Kaneda,
Kathleen Kucka, Margrit Lewczuk, Judith Linhares, Jennifer Riley,
David Rhodes, Russell Roberts, Marc Andre Robertson
Art Marbella, with Tat Art Barcelona, Marbella (ES)
Javier Arce, Jack Davidson, Guillermo Pfaff, David Rhodes, Vicky Uslé
Holding It Together, group exhibition, Dumbo Arts Festival, New York (US)
Javier Arce, Jack Davidson, Guillermo Pfaff, Justin Randolph,
Thompson, David Rhodes, Adrianna Wallis
Curated by Carles Taché
Eve Aschheim, Suzan Frecon, Sol LeWitt, David Rhodes,
Huang Rui, Cordy Ryman, Juan Uslé, Will Yackulic
2016
Scope Miami, with Tat Art Barcelona, Miami (US)
Jack Davidson, Guillermo Pfaff, Justin Randolph Thompson,David Rhodes
The pattern reveals itself, group exhibition, Claudia Weil Galerie,
Friedberg-Rinnenthal (D)
Sam Francis, Frederick Hammersley, Lee Mullican, Ed Ruscha,
Robert Rauschenberg, David Rhodes
Diego Puyol and David Rhodes
2015
Exposisio colectivo, Piramidón Centre D’art Contemporanie
Barcelona (ES)Diego Puyol, Guillermo Pfaff, Stella Rahola, Miguel Angel Pascuel,
Tono Carbajo, Estafania Errutia, José Ramón Bas, David Rhodes,Eduard Resbier
Marina Adams, Siri Berg, Dennis Hollingsworth, Shirley Jaffe
Jill Levine, David Rhodes, Rebecca Smith, Joan Waltemath
Alison Hall, Suzanne Joelson, Zachary Keeting, Jenna Pirello
David Rhodes, Gary Stephan
Mark Joyce, Edwardo Barco, Carlos Cartaxo, Andrew Bick,
David Rhodes, Patrick M. Fitzgerald
2014
Black and White, Jason McCoy Gallery, New York (US)
Vincent Contarino, Adolf Gottlieb, David Rhodes, Joan WitekSteven Day, Vincent Hawkins, Erin Lawlor, Jaanika Peerna,
Guillermo Pfaff, Lael Marshall, Jacob Melchi, John Millie,
Kevin Monot, Maibritt Ulvedal Bielke, David Rhodes,
Wilma Wissers, Don Voisine, Michael Voss
Alain Bilterest, Armel de Sainte Marie, Amy Feldman,
Andrew Seto, Bertrand Derel, Corin Laroche, David Rhodes,
Didier Petit, Espen Erichsen, Jan van der Ploeg, Jeremie Chabaud,
Jeremie Chabaud, Karl Bielik, Nelio
Marina Adams, David Rhodes, Rebecca Smith
Carlos Cárcamo, Siri Berg, Marina Adams, David Rhodes
Diego Puyol, Guillermo Pfaff, Stella Rahola, Miguel Angel Pascuel, Tono
Carbajo, Estafania Errutia, José Ramón Bas, David Rhodes, Eduard Resbier
2013
Untitled, with Hionas Gallery, Miami (US)
Siri Berg, Rebecca Smith, David RhodesAndrew Bick, Cullinan Richards, Stuart Elliot, Robert Holyhead, Clare Kenny,
Maria Lalic, Karim Noureldin, David Rhodes, Brandon Taylor
Charles Andresen, Cora Cohen, Eric and Martin Demaine, Nora Griffin,
Sebastien Leon, Stephen Pusey, David Rhodes, Sean Scherer,
Carol Szymanski, Rafael Vega
Four Tet, JiM Contemporani, Barcelona (ES)
Curated by Jack Davidson
Catrin Anderson, Kirstin Arndt, Art&Language, Awst & Walther, Henning
Bohl, Carston Fock, Joe Fyfe, Lotte Gertz, Amy Granat, Shirley Kaneda,
Suzanne McClelland, Mathieu Mercier, Paul Morrison, Rupert Norfolk,
Sahra Ortmeyer, David Rhodes, Superflex, Carol Szymanski, Gert & Uwe
Tobias, Christopher Wool & Natalia Zaluska
2012
Paintings, Galerie Katharina Krohn, Basel (Solo) (CH)
Crossing Abstraction II, Galerie-Kunsthaus and
Kerstin Gottschalk, Franziska Hünig, Ellen Hyllemose, Ilona Kalnoky,
Sandra Meisel, Rebecca Michaelis, Jens Nordmann, David Ryan,
Arne Schreiber, Nicola Stäglich, Sinta Werner
AAA Centenary Exhibition, Paris Concret, Paris (F)
Victor Kord, Mon Levinson, Klaus Merkel, Richard Timperio, Merril Wagner
David Reed, Stephen Westfall, Thornton Willis, Michael Bause
Hartmut Böhm, Don Voisine, Matthew Deleget, Wolfram Ullrich, Guido
Winkler, Sabine Laidig, Monika Brandmeier, Károly Keserü, Gilbert Hsiao
Ka Bomhardt, Arnold Dreyblatt, Christine Ten Hoevel, David Rhodes,
Michael Toenges, Andrea Überlacker
2011
Twin Twin, Pierogi, New York (US)
Curated by Matt FreedmanIncluding, Joe Amrhein, Amy Chan, Peter Dudek, Elana Herzog, Nina
Katchadourian, Ann Pibal, Matthew Rose, Suzanne Silver, Judy Richardson,
Gabriel Velazquez
Including, Kirstin Arndt, Siri Berg, Mark Dagley, Ruth Eckstein, James Cross,
Victor Kord, Mon Levinson, Klaus Merkel, Richard Timperio, Merril Wagner
David Reed, Stephen Westfall, Thornton Willis, Michael Bause
Including, Phil Amrhein, Carla Asperilla, Matthew Beall, Bonnie Begusch, Gary A. Bibb, Josh Blackwell, Kate Davis, Tara de la Garza, Angel, Ditmar, Milos Djordjevic,
Cassia Goncalves, Lucie Harrison, Rose Nolan, Oona Stern, Francis Uprichard
Including, Alice Zinnes, Anne Russinof, Ben Le Rocco, Cecily Kahn, Chris
Martin, Fred Gutzeit, Gary Peterson, Greg Lindquist, Mara Held, Katsuhisa
Sakai, Natalie Provosty, Palma Blank, Peter Acheson, Rich Timperio, Ron
Gorchov, Tamara Gonzales, Yvette Cohen
Concrete Things, Forgotten Bar Projekt, Berlin (D)
Joanne Greenbaum, Geke Heinke, Monika Jarecka, David RhodesAgniezska Kalinowska, Don Voisine, Sinta Werner
Harbinger, Centrum, Berlin (D)
Curated by Kate Squires and David MoynihanMelanie Stidolph, Jo Addison, Hatty Lee, Clara Bauch, Marcin Malszczak,
Alice Walton, David Rhodes, Silke Kaestner, Bill Leslie, Samuel Dowd
Matthias Bitzer, Amelie Grözinger, Peter K. Koch, David Rhodes,
Anne Neukamp
Curated by Michel Carmantrand
Thomas Bechinger, Mateo Cohen, Ruprecht Dreher, Isabelle Dyckerhoff,
Ingrid Floss, James Geccelli, Gilbert Hsiao, Susanne Jung, Dittmar Krüger,
Gerhard Mantz, Paola Neumann, Daniela Pukropski, David Rhodes, Andrea
Schomburg, Wolfgang Schröder, Stefan Schröter
2010
Rhyme Not Reason, Janet Kurnatowsky Gallery, New York (US)
Curated by John Yau
Marilyn Learner, Laura Newman, David Rhodes, Sherman Sam,Karla Wozniak
Michel Carmantrand and David Rhodes
Including, Florencia Almón, Antoine Desvigne, Laetitia Gendre, Silvia Henrick,
Joachim Knobloch, Silke Nowak, Rose Neu, Rainer Neumeier, Nathan Peter,
Olivia Seiling, Norbert Witzgall
Curated by Tjorg Douglas Beer and Madeleine Boschan
Paperfile #6, galerie oqbo, Berlin (D)
Aimée Beaubien, Caroline Bittermann, Ingo Röhlich, Thomas Jocher, Tina
Jonsbu, Marc Räder, Eva-Maria Schön, Sigune Sievi, Shelly Silver, Roland
Stratmann, Beathe Terfloth, Tim Trantenroth, David Rhodes, Bryan Whitney
Dieter Balzar, Surya Gied, Geka Heinke, Veronike Hinsberg, Gilbert Hsiao, Tim
Stapel, Pierre Julerat, Jan Kopfleisch, Dirke Rathke, David Rhodes, Giles Ryder,
Nikola Richard, Adreas Schmitt, Elisabeth Sonneck, Bastian Vogel
Curated by Anne Fäser
Anne Gathmann, Alexander Klenz, David Rhodes, Gerwald Rockenschaub,
Arne Schreiber, Sinta Werner
Oliver van den Berg, Dag, Peter K. Koch, David Rhodes
2009
Crossing Abstraction I, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin (D)
Kerstin Gottschalk, Franziska Hünig, Ellen Hyllemose, Ilona Kalnoky,Sandra Meisel, Rebecca Michaelis, Jens Nordmann, David Ryan,
Arne Schreiber, Nicola Stäglich, Sinta Werner
Curated by Franziska Hünig
Dam Adams, Daniel Crews, Anke Göhring, Geka Heinke, Franziska Hünig,
Ilona Kálnoky, Bettina Khano, Rebecca Michaelis, Antonia Nordmann,
Katinka Pilschereur, Dirke Rathke, Andreas Rosenberg, Arne Schreiber,
Elizebeth Sonneck, Nicola Stäglich, Tim Staple, Benedikt Terwiel,Batstien Vogel, Sinta Werner
2008
Roundabout, Paul Linke Ufer, Berlin (D)
Ruth Campau, Terry Haggerty, Arturo Hererra, Olav Christopher Jenssen,Malene Landgreen, Mickael Mork, Bodil Nielson, Jan van der Ploeg,
Karina Peisajavich, David Rhodes, Jens Wolf
I Don’t Wanna Talk About It, Glue, Berlin (D)
Joachim Grommek, Jens Wolf, Jan Scharrelmann,Dirk Rathke, David Rhodes, Dag
2007
Drawing_2, group exhibition, The Foundry, London (UK)
2006
Remote Access, Rubicon Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Neva Elliot, Fiona Larkin, Hannes Malte Mahler,Fiona Murray, David Rhodes, Isabel Nolan
2005
Again and Again, Josetti Hof, Berlin (D)
Cécile Dupaquier and David RhodesDrawings from the Collection, V&A Museum Collection, Millennium
Including, Wassily Kandinsky, Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud, Jean Dubuffet,
Albrect Dürer, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi, William
Blake, Richard long, Hew Locke, Vik Muniz, Andy Goldsworthy
2004
Vis-à-vis, Palacete Viscondes de Balsemao, Aporto (Solo) (PT)
2003
Flix, Rubicon Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Including, Thomas Nozkowski, Joyce Robins, Ellen Harvey, Ronnie Hughes,Amanda Coogan, Danny Rolf, Sherman Sam, Neva Elliot, Patrick Fitzgerald,
Alice Peillon, Natalie Du Pasquier
Linda Besemer, Andrew Bick, Rolf Bier, AK Dolvin, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pia
Fries, Ben Ravenscroft, Sherman Sam, Sonita Singwi
Curated by Andrew Bick
Linda Besemer, Andrew Bick, Rolf Bier, AK Dolvin, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pia
Fries, Ben Ravenscroft, Sherman Sam, Sonita Singwi
Curated by Andrew Bick
Linda Besemer, Andrew Bick, Rolf Bier, AK Dolvin, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pia
Fries, Ben Ravenscroft, Sherman Sam, Sonita Singwi
Selected by, Susie Allen, Anya Gallaccio, Katherine Stout, David Thorp
and Richard Wentworth
2002
Sight Mapping, Bohuslans Museum, Uddevalla (SE)
Curated by Andrew BickLinda Besemer, Andrew Bick, Rolf Bier, AK Dolvin, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pia Fries, Ben Ravenscroft, Sherman Sam, Sonita Singwi
John Moores 22, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (UK)
Including, Luke Gottelier, Gerard Hemsworth, Lisa Milroy, Dany Rolph, Ian
Davenport, Mark Francis, Chantal Joffe, Rachel Miles, Sean Dawson
Jerwood Drawing Prize, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow (UK)
Jerwood Drawing Prize, Art Center, Birmingham (UK)
Jerwood Drawing Prize, University of Gloucester, Cheltenham (UK)
2000
Showroom, Percy Miller Gallery, London (UK)
John Armleder, Charles Avery, Fiona Banner, William Cobbing, Tom Ellis, SilvieFleury, Maureen Mcquillian, Simon Morely, Jonathan Parsons
1999
Breatheprojectet, Gothenberg (SE)
Curated by Tomas Ferm.Gunnar D. Hansson, Ove Haugen, David Karlsson, Sefan Karlsson, Jonas
Larsson, Henryk Lipp, Staffan Mossenmark, Mats Ohlsson, Mikael Ohlsson, Also
Parmerud, Celia Parsberg, Petra Revenue
1998
ART98, Anthony Wilkinson Fine Art, London (UK)
1997
Liste.97, Anthony Wilkinson Fine Art, Basel (CH)
Spencer, Bob&Roberta Smith, Peter Ellis
Curated by Anthony Wilkinson
Dominic Dennis, David Rhodes, Johnny Spencer, Bob&Roberta Smith,
Simon Callery, Maggie Smith
Ceal Floyer, David Rhodes, Bob and Roberta Smith, Lucy Gunning,
Mathew Higgs
Curated by Kate MacGarry and Toby Webster
1996
The Whitechapel Open, The Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (UK)
Including, Anne-Marie Creamer, Elizabeth Magill, Mariele Neudecker, CarlPlackman, Louise Cattrell, Tim Allen, Joanna Price, Ana Genoves, Roderick
Coyne, Andrew Grasse, Sarah Beddington, Helen Robertson, Nicky
Hoberman, Jane Dixon, Grayson Perry
1995
Sconfinamenti, Italian Institute, group exhibition, London (UK)
The Fifty Quid Show, Derbyshire Street Studios, London
Including, Mathew Arnett, Bob&Robert Smith, Fiona Banner, Simon
Patterson, Maggie Smith, Jessica Vorsanger, Nicky Hurst, Mark Francis
1994
Paintings, Anthony Wilkinson Fine Art, London, (Solo) (UK)
Maggie Smith, Johnny Spencer, David Rhodes, Bob & Roberta Smith, Jessica
Vorsanger, Chris Ofili
Paintings in permanent Collections
Huntington Museum, Los Angeles (US)
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (US)
Uddevalla Kunstmuseum, Uddevalla (SE)
V&A Museum, London (UK)
Alex Katz Foundation, New York (US)
Simmons and Simmons, London (UK)
Centro Cultural Andrax, Mallorca (ES)
Independent curating
2017
Split, Zürcher Gallery, New York (US)
Eve Aschheim, Suzan Frecon, Sol Lewitt, David Rhodes, Huang RuiCordy Ryman, Juan Uslé, Will Yakulic
2013
Drifter, Hionas Gallery, New York (US)
Nicole Cherubini, Martha Clippinger, Joe Fyfe, Mary Heilmann, Denis Hollingsworth,
Cordy Ryman, Arlene Shechet
2011
Concrete Things, Forgotten Bar Projekt, Berlin (D)
Organized with Monika JureckaJoanne Greenbaum, Geke Heinke, Monika Jurecka, David Rhodes,
Agnieszka Kalinowska, Don Voisine, Sinta Werner
2008
Roundabout, Paul Linke Ufer, Berlin (D)
Organized with Malene LandgreenRuth Campau, Terry Haggerty, Arturo Herrera, Olav Christopher Jenssen
Malene Landgreen, Mickael Mork, Bodil Nielson, Jan van der Ploeg, Karina
Peisajavich, David Rhodes, Jens Wolf
Residencies
2021 AIRCAT Tossa de Mar, Catalunya, Spain (ES)
2020 Aurobora, Ketchum, Idaho (US)
2008 CCA Andratx, Mallorca, Spain (ES)
2002 Triangle, New York City (US)
1988 Triangle, Pine Plains, New York (US)