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Rick Araluce

1960 -

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As a carpenter and scenic artist for the Seattle Opera, Rick Araluce’s miniatures reflect the intricacies or real world details. His love for building inspired him to create small-scale renderings of forgotten places that often give us a sense of abandonment and mystery. Each space, although devoid of human presence, points to a subtle narrative in which Araluce plants clues such as a light bulb, a gift, a telephone, or a broken frame, then allows the viewer to use his imagination in order to fill in the rest of the story.
Comparable to assemblage artist Joseph Cornell, Araluce creates a body of work that can be defined as poetic, eerie, and often times incorporate elements of surrealism. Each space captures moments in time that often asks the viewer to question what event has taken place there. His scenes are riddled with symbols that remind us of loss, loneliness, dissolution, and mortality—giving us a sense of drama and inciting an emotional reaction. Such is the aim of Rick Araluce who quotes “I’m trying to provoke universal associations and emotions within the viewer.”

EDUCATION

Painting, sculpting, intaglio printmaking, Orange Coast Junior College, Costa Mesa, CA
Ernest Guerrero, private tutor

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Otis-Parsons Art Institute in Los Angeles, Lecturer

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2009     Constructions, Offramp Gallery, Pasadena, CA
2007     The Stolen Hours, William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2006     OK Harris, New York, NY
2005     The Slow Turning of the Night, William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2004     OK Harris Gallery, New York, NY
2003     William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2002     The Perfect Voice of Unreason, William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2001     Mystery; Obsession; Minutiae, William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
1998     La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1996     In Other Places, William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
1995     Horwitch/ Newman Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ
1994     Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA) in Santa Ana, CA
1993     La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA
            Rachelle Lozzi Gallery in Los Angeles, CA
1992     La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA
1988     Onyx Sequel in Los Angeles, CA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2009     9th Annual Northwest Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
2007     Actor! Actor!, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
            New Visions, Seattle Opera, Seattle, WA
2006     Building Allegory, William Traver Gallery, Tacoma, WA
            Scenic Dope, Ballard Works, Seattle, WA
2002     The Box Show, The Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, OR
            Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Show, William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2000     Assemblages, William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
1997       William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
1996     Jerry Solomon Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, curated by Louis Newman
1995     Horwitch/ Newman Gallery, in Scottsdale, AZ, curated by Louis Newman
1994     Louis Newman Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, curated by Louis Newman
1993     John Thomas Gallery in Santa Monica, CA, (Twisted Tales), curated by Jim Reed
            Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach, CA, (Dark Suburban Fantasies), curated by Jim Reed
1992     Space Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, (Boxes), curated by Leo Michelson
1991     Modern Museum of Art (MMOA) in Santa Ana, CA, (California Perspectives), curated by Bob Abbott
1990     Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE)
1988     Los Angeles Impression Gallery in Los Angeles, curated by Carlos Baez-Silva
1987     The Ivy Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, (The Mens’ Show), curated by Michael Ivy

AWARDS & GRANTS

2009       Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Award
2008     Pollock-Krasner Award
            Artist Trust GAP Grant
2007     Seattle City Artist Projects Grant, Seatle, WA

PUBLICATIONS

2007     Cantor, Allyn. “Rick Araluce: The Stolen Hours”, Preview, The Gallery Guide, June/July/August, p. 90, 2007
          “Actor! Actor!”, curated by Signe Mayfield, p. 6
            Gant, Michael S. “Floater”, San Jose Metro, March 7-13
2006     Seattle Opera Magazine, Oct.
1996     McTaggart, Tom, “Paranoid Dollhouse”, The Stranger, September 26, p. 15.
1993     Reed, Jim, Dark Suburban Fantasies, catalogue, p. 2-3
            Kaplan, Mickey & Phillips, Jeff, La Art, catalogue, p. 30
1992     Phillips, Jeff, Barakat Gallery catalogue, p. 6

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