Featured Artist
Roger Chavez
Gallery Artist Roger Chavez, featured in our recent Online Silent Auction and upcoming Online Exhibition "Nuances in Abstract Painting," is a true master of his medium. Chavez began his education in the arts at the Maryland College of Art and Design, continued his education at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the University of Pennsylvania, and received his Master of Fine Arts from American University in Washington D.C.
Chavez is the recipient of numerous awards and grants over the course of his career, including a prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, and a Franz and Virginia Bader Fund grant. In addition to these accolades, Chavez has participated in artist residencies. In 2015, Chavez was an artist in residence at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in County Mayo, Ireland, where he painted Baile an Chaisil #1, which was recently shown in our Online Silent Auction.
Baile an Chaisil #1 by Roger Chavez, oil on panel, 8.375 x 24 inches. Private collection.
Chavez has shown in prominent galleries across the Northeast, and has exhibited at the Berman Museum of Art in Collegeville, PA, and the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia, PA. His work is also featured in the permanent collection at the Ballinglen Museum of Contemporary Art in County Mayo, Ireland.
In addition to his accomplished career in as a painter, Roger Chavez is also a brilliant teacher and instructor. Chavez has taught at numerous institutions such as Maryland College of Art and Design and Ursinus College, and has served as a visiting critic at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Chicago, most recently in December of 2019. He currently teaches at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA.
A special sneak peek inside the artist's studio.
Roger Chavez was featured last spring at Stanek Gallery in the exhibition "Unforeseeable Thereness," co-curated by artist Hollis Heichemer. This exhibition, a celebration of the strong ties between Ireland and Philadelphia, featured nine incredible artists whose works reflect their personal connection to the captivating landscape, light and people of Ireland. Chavez's works were a mediation on the Irish countryside, rendered abstractly in cool, earthy greys and browns.
Currently, Chavez has been busy at work in the studio. With several oil paintings in progress, the artist's intense focus on the nuances of light, value, and form comes to the fore. Take a look at these works in progress below!
.jpg)
Roger Chavez, Untitled Still Life #42, oil on canvas panel, 23.75 x 31.25 in.
.jpg)
Roger Chavez, Untitled Still Life #39, oil on canvas panel, 12 x 12 in.
.jpg)
Roger Chavez, Untitled Still Life #38, oil on canvas, 19 x 25 in.
.jpg)
Roger Chavez, Untitled Still Life #40, oil on canvas panel, 19 x 24 in.
Roger Chavez's artistic practice is a form of philosophical investigation. His subject matter, often referenced in the titles of his works and with which he spends great amounts of time, serves as a point of departure. What begins as a defined form, object, or scene, such as a the rooftops of buildings in a cityscape or a collection of teacups in a still life, soon morphs into an abstractly rendered composition. Chavez's paintings demonstrate his mastery of value and tone, as he employs a subtle and rich palette of greys, blues, and browns, varying in warmth and coolness. His quiet, meditative paintings possess an intensity and depth, each a contemplation of shadows, shapes, and space.
Untitled Still Life #17 by Roger Chavez will soon be featured in our upcoming Online Exhibition "Nuances in Abstract Painting," which opens on June 15th, 2020. Works by Roger Chavez are always available for viewing and purchase at Stanek Gallery. Click on the button below to see more from the artist!