Marybeth Rothman
Marybeth Rothman is a contemporary American artist known for her reclaimed and reimagined fictional visual biographies and abstract narratives. Her portraits were featured in Modigliani and the Modern Portrait at the Nassau County Museum of Art. This historic exhibition, curated by Dr. Kenneth Wayne, Director of the Modigliani Project, showcased the portraiture of Amedeo Modigliani alongside works by his renowned contemporaries, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Gaston Lachaise, and others. The exhibition also featured the work of contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Robert Mapplethorpe, Eric Fischl, and more. Rothman was a semifinalist in the Smithsonian Institution National Portrait Gallery's Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition in 2022.
She has exhibited at the Museum of Art, Delaware Contemporary Museum, New Jersey State Museum, Bristol Art Museum, Cape Cod Museum of Art, and galleries throughout the United States. Her most recent solo exhibition, Recent Observations and Conjectures Near Madaket Road, was displayed at Frederick Holmes and Company Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seattle, WA. Rothman’s work is in collections across the United States and abroad.
Born in Massachusetts, Rothman earned a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She currently resides and works in New Jersey.
Artist Statement
I celebrate the subtleties of identity by creating fictional visual biographies from historically marginalized communities and underrepresented voices. Combining abstraction and realism with a focus on metaphor and symbolism, each of these mixed-media works is composed of many subtle layers of pigmented beeswax, photographs, and abstract drawings. The photographic elements are a fusion of reclaimed and reimagined vintage photographs, along with my digital photographs, which I combine and repurpose. I develop a series of paintings by imagining a fellowship, community, geographic location, or cultural bond to further enrich the narrative in my work.
www.marybethrothman.com
