About the Author

Annette Rawlings was born into a deeply dysfunctional southern family and abandoned by her mother at birth. She more or less raised herself, suffered through a kidnapping at age twelve and underwent numerous additional isolating experiences. Nonetheless, she became a self-reliant artist who survived untouched and intact rather than victimized.

Rawlings, a product of the 1960s, came to associate with many of the actors, rock stars, writers, and innovators who changed the course of American culture. Think David Crosby, Patti Smith, Tennessee Williams, and Timothy Leary, just to name a few. Her experiences with these and other prominent individuals resulted in what Rawlings calls “a creative wave” that was greatly influenced by the colors and cultural atmosphere of Miami, where she briefly settled as a young adult.

Annette chronicles how her art reflects such experiences as spending a year in the jungles of Central America as well as living for a year at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. From her use of color to her significant academic studies to her conscious decision to live, as she says, “in the brightness,”

Her dramatic life and her calm demeanor has created bold paintings that are harmonious and create a sense of calm but with a strong presence. Annette Rawlings’ remarkable experiences reveal how her life created her art and ultimately how her art created her life.

A well-known artist whose paintings have been displayed in such places as the Miami Art Museum, Art Basel, Virginia Miller galleries and the Louvre in Paris.

Artist biogrAphy

Solo Exhibitions

2018 – Lawrence A. Sanders Foundation Gallery at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County

2017 – Museum of the Americas, Houston, Texas; Venice Biennals, Museo Abano Terme, Italy; Dubai; Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York, N.Y; Miami

2013 – “Retrospective” Lawrence A. Sanders Foundation Gallery, at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, Fl.

2010 – Andrews Art Museum, Andrews, NC

2009 – Whatmore Art Museum, Andrews, NC

2008 – Windisch-Hunt Gallery, Coconut Grove (Miami), FL “Paris Series”, Andrews Art Museum, Andrews, NC

2006 – Figures from Mexico, Walter Wickiser Gallery Inc., NY

2004 – Figures from Italy, Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, NY

2001 – Centre Culturel Christien PEUGEOT, Paris, France

1991 – Musee d’Art Moderne de la Commanderie d’Unet, Tonneins Bordeaux, France

1989 – Art in Motion, a multi-media art event, hosted by Town & Country Magazine, MIAMI ART MUSEUM previously known as Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, FL

1987 – Gallery 841, Miami, FL

1986 – MANDRAGORE INTERNATIONALE GALERIE D’ART, Paris, France CENTER INTERNATIONALE D’ART CONTEMPORAIN, Paris, France Le Collage and Collage of 64, performing arts project involving art, drama, music, film, fashion, and cuisine

1985 – METROPOLIS GALERIE INTERNATIONALE D’ART, Geneva

Group Exhibitions

2020 – Dubai, Alliance Francaise Galerie, organized by the Museum of the Americas

2016 – Candid Arts Trust, London,England “Psychoanalysis, Art & the Occult”

2015 – Palm Beach Cultural Council, “Nature”

2013 – “Summer Invitational” Art Essex Gallery, Essex, CT

2010 – Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, Chelsea, New York City

2009 – Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, Chelsea, New York City Crisolart Gallery, Barcelona Spain; LOUVRE, Paris in the Carrousel du Louvre exhibition space

2008 – Gallery Artists V, Walter Wickiser Gallery Inc., New York, NY; “International Artists” Art Domain Gallery, Leipzig, Germany; “Confluence of Cultures II” Walter Wickiser Gallery, NY

2007 – “Special Event-Jewelry Exhibit” National Museum for Women in the Arts, DC

2006 – “International Artists in California” Latino Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA; “International Collection” curated by the Museum of the Americas, Crisolart Gallery, Barcelona, Spain; Museum of the Americas, “Women in Art”, Miami, FL

2005 – Gallery Artists II, Walter Wickiser Gallery Inc., NY, NY; The Landscape of the Body, Walter Wickiser Gallery Inc., New York, NY

2004 – AMSTERDAM WHITNEY, New York City, NY

2003 – LIMNER GALLERY, New York City, NY

1992 – MUSEE D’ART MODERNE DE LA COMMANDERIE D’UNET, Tonneins, Bordeaux, France

1991 – Faber Birren Color Award Show, Juror Laura Rosenstock, Curator, MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, Stamford Art Association, Connecticut Figures in Space, ARIEL GALLERY, New York, NY

1990 – “Grand Prix De Paris International, MUSEE D’ART MODERNE DE LA COMMANDERIE D’UNET; Tonneins, Bordeaux, France; Approaches to the Figure, ARIEL GALLERY, New York, NY

1989 – The Three Americas LUXEMBOURG MUSEUM, Paris, France

1988 – ARIEL GALLERY, New York, NY; CENTRE CULTUREL PAUL DUMAIL, Bordeaux, France

1987 – “Masters Handmade Paper Exhibition” METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, Miami, FL; CENTRE FOR THE ARTS, Vero Beach, FL

1984 – Paris Expo CENTRE INTERNATIONAL D’ART CONTEMPORIAN, Paris, France; BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART, Birmingham, Alabama; CAMINO REAL GALLERY, Boca Raton, FL

1972 – VIRGINIA MILLER GALLERIES, Miami, FL

1972 – Florida Artists/New, LOWE MUSEUM, Miami, FL

Honors and Awards

2014 – Annette Rawlings, Fine Artist, has qualified for inclusion in the 2014-2015 edition of the Worldwide Who’s Who Registry of Executives, professionals and entrepreneurs.

1992 – First Place for painting, MUSEE D’ART MODERNE DE LA COMMANDERE D’UNET, Tonneins, Bordeaux, France

1991 – First Place for creativity, MUSEE D’ART MODERNE DE LA COM MANDERIE D’UNET, Tonneins, Bordeaux, France; National Competition Faber Birren Color Award Show, Juror Laura Rosenstock, Curator MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, Stamford Art Association, CT

1990 – First Place for painting, LA SORBONNE, Paris, France

1988 – First Place for abstract painting, CENTRE CULTURAL PAUL DUMAIL, Paris, France

1985 – Judges Mention d’Honneur, METROPOLIS GALERE INTERNATIONALE D’ART, Geneva, Switzerland

1984 – First Place painting, CENTRE INTERNATIONALE D’ART CONTEMPORIAN, Paris, France

Selected Biography

2020 – “The Golden Book of Artists” edited by the European Communities Artists Library, Barcelona, organized by the Museum of the Americas

2012 – “Important Artists of the World” published by World Wide Art Books, US.

2010 – American Artists reference book, Signatures & Monograms

1991 – Prestige de la Peinture et de la Sculpture d’ Aujourdhui dans le Monde, Les Editions Arts et Images due Monde

1990 – Notable American Women, ABI 1st Edition

1990 – The New York Art Review: An Illustrated Survey of the City’s Museums, galleries, and Leading Artists, American References; American Artist’s: An Illustrated Survey of Leading Contemporaries American References

1988 – Who’s Who in Society, ABI

1987 – Foremost Women of the Twentieth Century, 1st Edition, World Distribution, IBC publication; Biography International : A Memorial Document on Men and Women of Achievement and Distinction, Delhi, India

Education

1959-60 – Art restoration and painting, Heidleberg, Germany

1963-64 – Painting (fresco, tempera, Renaissance underpainting and color formulations, with special reference to Perugino) and Etruscan methods of vessel making and lost wax jewelry casting at Escoula de Estraneira, Perugia, Italy

1964 – Glass making, Venice, Italy (Summer)

1965-69 – Private study in drawing and painting with Roberto Martinez (studied with Marino Marini); B.A. University of Miami, Art History; Graduate classes in studio painting, drawing, ceramics, and sculpture, University of Miami

1969-70 – Ceramic and fibre study, Mexico and British Honduras

1973-75 – Private study in the chemistry of color formulation. Consulted two years full-time with DuPont Company, New York, NY

1982-83 – “Masters Papermaking Workshops” with Aurelia Munoz, Spain

2013 – Book Making, Coptic Stitch and Binding, Private Study

reviews

Bruno Francisci, curator, Museo Abano Terme, Italy, Venice Biennal; “As a pioneer in the Pop Art Movement, I find Rawlings work to be quite POP, but elegant and balanced.” 2017

Edward Lucie-Smith, Figures from Mexico series, “few painters prompt a comparison both to some of the giants of early Modernism and to the pioneers of Pop Art. Annette Rawlings has been compared to Modigliani on the one hand and Roy Lichtenstein on the other. Looking at her new work, it is easy to see that both of these references are exact, and that, in addition to Modigliani one ought to cite Gauguin, Matisse, Fernand Leger and Diego Rivera.” 2006

ARTNEWS magazine, “Landscape of the Body” In the oil on-rough linen works by Annette Rawllings’, images appear pixelated, a la Roy Liechtenstein. The hair and torsos of her cartoon-like women break down into panels of primary colors, creating a grid of various shapes’, 2005

Artspeak magazine, New York, N.Y., “The figure paintings of Annette Rawlings employ the vocabulary of hardedge abstraction to create strong spatial statements. Here figures are defined by sharp sinus line, literally flow into the surrounding space, creating a brand new relationship between image and ground.” 2004

La Cote Des Arts, “A. Rawlings investigates geometric paintings consisting of purposeful, spatial concepts and the extension of the individual figure. An outstanding calculation of flowing line and colors that stretch out into the decor, creating diverse spatial experimentations. 1990

ART manual distributed in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, USA and Belgium, Visages du xxeme siècle No. 71; Paris, France: “Rawlings paints with rare elegance, strong intimate scenes with stylized forms and structured color. She suggests figures with the minimum of details.” 1988

Laurent Charles Alfred, Director, MANDRAGORA INTERNATIONAL GALERIE D’ART, Paris, France; “In her work I rediscovered the case for rigor and sincerity that I am looking for”. 1986

International Herald Tribune, Max Wykes Joyce, “Large almost total abstract female nudes in simple shapes and vivid colors poised like an undulating landscape”. 1977

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