The RxArt Team was invited by Brooklyn-based artist Robert Lazzarini for a studio visit to get an up close and personal look at his visually stunning sculptures and drawings. Robert Lazzarini is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City and has mastered the art of visual manipulation in his artwork. Lazzarini’s sculptures manipulate the visual world by distorting the visual aspect of everything from an everyday telephone to a large bank vault. He combines his artistic talent with his in-depth knowledge of mathematics and physics to create beautiful pieces of art that present to us new perspectives of objects that we find in everyday living. The amazing thing about the construction of his sculptures is that all of his works are fabricated out of the same exact materials that make up the actual product.
Robert Lazzarini’s work has been exhibited all over the world, from solo shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. to group shows in Switzerland and Austria. He has also collaborated with other contemporary artists such as RxArt’s friend, KAWS and master printer Gary Lichtenstein. RxArt is proud to feature Lazzarini’s work in our newest coloring book project, ”Between the Lines, Vol. 3.”
We want to thank Robert Lazzarini and his team for having us at the studio and giving us a tour of his completed works and a preview of his upcoming projects. All we can say is, if you like Harley Davidson motorcycles you are in for an unbelievable visual experience!
Along with being featured in “Between The Lines, Vol. 3” with a more of today’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Robert Lazzarini will be donating an artwork to this year’s RxArt 11th Anniversary Gala. If you haven’t gotten your ticket yet, just head over to our website for further information. Enjoy a night of wonderful art for a great cause. The event will be one to remember.
The annual RxArt Gala is coming up! Save the date and come in your finest. The evening will include a silent auction featuring artists such as Nate Lowman, Yoko Ono, and David Levinthal. See art and Buy tickets here: http://rxart.net/contribute/party.
More artists to be announced!
Who we are
Hi readers, followers, and friends! We’ve been sharing information about our activities and artists we work with for quite some time now, and we figured it was about to time to take this relationship to the next level - let’s get personal! We want to take you behind the scenes of our hardworking little operation, and introduce you to some of the amazing people who help RxArt transform the patient experience.
We’re located in a teensy-tiny space on Forsyth Street in New York City’s Lower East Side. The front half of our space is occupied by the aptly named Half Gallery, owned by our board member Bill Powers and Andy Spade and James Frey. Day-to-day, we focus on preparing for our fall gala, sponsored by Chanel Beaute (buy tickets here), mounting upcoming projects in Atlanta, New York, and Houston, and getting the third edition of our coloring book ready for hospital donations and store shelves. We love our little space, and have started lots of fun rituals to bond in such close quarters; the hands-down favorite is “four o’clock,” when, everyday, we sit down for our version of high tea - espresso, cookies, and chocolate!
RxArt is, at its core, Diane Brown, former gallerist and all-around awesome person. She founded RxArt back in 2000 after a scary hospital experience was made peaceful and relaxing by the idea of art. Alongside Diane is Heidi Sanders, our amazing Operations Coordinator, who has worked previously at John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Bookseller and is mom to precious four-month-old Abigail.
Frank, Liz, and Rachel at the Hester Street Fair
Right now we have three interns, Liz Kuehnen, Rachel Swartz, and Philip Ullman. Liz is a recent graduate of Pratt’s Communications Design MFA program and a whiz kid graphic designer. She’s working on revamping our brand image alongside our web designers, and will be leaving RxArt in September to move to Spain while her husband works on an international business degree - olé! Rachel (that’s me - hey y’all) is about to start her final year at NYU’s graduate program in Visual Arts Administration. She’s been helping get us ready for our fall gala and will be heading to MoMA this fall to intern with Corporate Membership, while also slowly chipping away at her thesis. Philip is visiting from Sweden and is an amazing photographer; he’s helping us build an archive of installation photography. We look forward to welcoming a new crop of rockstar interns in September - you’ll be reading about them soon, too!
Lastly, there’s Frank Aguilar - or, rather, Dr. Frank. He has been a stalwart of RxArt for over a year, helping with everything from coloring book orders to innovative projects to heavy lifting. He’s leaving today to start his residency at Rutgers University Hospital, and while we will miss his positive energy, cool tee shirts, and street cred immensely, we know he will do wonderful things in the world of medicine, continuing the RxArt mission to transform the patient experience.
If you’ve always wanted to know exactly how to be Ryan McGinness, or at least how to create art just like him, then we recommend that you take a look at Studio Manual. McGinness paired up with stellar design studio Base to create a step-by-step manual for employees and proprietors of RMS franchises. The comprehensive manual covers everything from his sketching process to throwing out the trash at the end of the day.
As for all of us at RxArt, this book is going directly to the top of our wish list! It’s a little glimpse into the world of Ryan McGinness Studios, Inc.
Hi everyone! We had a wet and rainy but wonderful Saturday at the Hester Street Fair this past weekend. Some very brave and hungry (for food and shopping!) souls came out and discussed the RxArt cause with us. We sold a bunch of coloring books, puzzles, and tee shirts and treated the water-logged fairgoers to free notepads and water bottles with our logo. Thanks so much to Suhyun Pak, Suchin Pak, and all of the other organizers - y’all are awesome! We will definitely make another appearance at the Hester in the fall with the third edition of Between the Lines and more merchandise, hope to see you there!
Art: free & outdoors this Memorial Day weekend
Happy almost-Memorial Day weekend! We have been very busy putting together Between the Lines Volume Three and are looking forward to a much-deserved break this holiday weekend. The forecast is calling for gorgeous weather in New York and we can’t wait to check out some of the free outdoor art installations by RxArt friends and other notable artists. We’ll be heading back to Union Square to see Rob Pruitt’s The Andy Monument for a second time and picking up some veggies from the Greenmarket; then we’ll go further downtown to see the Sol LeWitt outdoor retrospective Structures: 1965-2006, presented by the Public Art Fund at City Hall Park. We’re also eager to see Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads at the Pulitzer Fountain in Central Park’s Grand Army Plaza; while we’re uptown, we may just have to further indulge in some free art-spotting at the Whitney’s Friday “Member for A Day” celebration – the Glenn Ligon show, closing next week, is a must. We’ll return to work on Tuesday refreshed, with our minds and wallets full – hope you’ll be enjoying art too!
“Member for a Day” at The Whitney Museum of American Art: May 26, 2011, 1-9pm
AMERICA, Glenn Ligon, The Whitney Museum of American Art; closing June 5
Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, Ai Weiwei, Grand Army Plaza: closing July 15
Structures: 1965-2006, Sol LeWitt, City Hall Park; ongoing until December 3
The Andy Monument, Rob Pruitt, Union Square: ongoing until October 2
This month we donated 5,000 copies of our limited edition artist’s coloring book, Between the Lines, to patients in hospitals around the country. Next month we’re excited to offer it to residents and visitors of the Lower East Side. We’ll be selling the books at the local Hester Street Fair on Saturday, June 11th from 10am to 6pm, so mark your calendars! Stop by to chat with us about RxArt projects past and present, flip through a copy of the coloring book, and take home a copy for a mere $20. It’s also a great chance to explore the fair, enjoy some tasty treats from local food vendors, and browse the aisles of vintage & handmade goods.
Last week we happily donated over 5,000 Between the Lines coloring books to hospitals across the country. We are always excited to hear reports from the hospitals that patients of all ages and gender, and staff too, all love scribbling away in their books! Between the Lines features original artwork by Takashi Murakami, Ed Ruscha, Lawrence Weiner, and other greats.
You can unleash your inner child too! Coloring books are available for purchase at www.rxart.net/store.
We recently donated over a 100 sets of these awesome Dan Colen colored pencils to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dan created these specially for his solo show, PEANUTS, at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Norway this past January. We heard the kids, and the staff, couldn’t wait to start coloring with these in their RxArt Between the Lines coloring books!
Jack Walls
“Mona Lisa” Collage Paintings
Half Gallery
May 5th-May 29, 2011/ Reception: May 5, 6-8 PM
Our friends at Half Gallery, our opening a new show tomorrow night of Jack Walls Collage Paintings. Walls, with the help of Ryan McGinley’s Studio, has also created Zine to accompany the exhibition, which will be on sale at the Half Gallery for $20. What a steal!
