WITKIN & WEISS: WONDERFUL DEMANDS
April 6 – May 11, 2024
ART TALK: Robert Weiss: Wonderful Demands
Saturday, May 4, 2024 // 2-4pm
RO2ART
About RO2ART
Ro2 Art Gallery will host a joint exhibition between artists Jerome Witkin and Robert Weiss entitled Witkin & Weiss: Wonderful Demands, opening Saturday, April 6th, 6-10pm. The exhibition will serve as a retrospective of Witkin’s painting career, and showcase new and recent works by Weiss.
Wonderful Demands is a culmination of a decades-long mentorship and friendship between the two painters, who first met at Syracuse University while Weiss pursued a Master of Fine Arts under Witkin’s instruction. Witkin is known for realist depictions of social issues and real-life atrocities, most notably the Holocaust, a major concern of his paintings for much of his career. Weiss contrasts similar interests with subversive tableaus that are striking for their abstract techniques and colorful palettes, which accentuate the historical artifacts depicted. The kindred spirits immediately connected over a mutual appreciation for old masters and foundational techniques of figurative painting, and a fascination with neglected and oft-overlooked aspects of the human experience.
This joint art exhibition exists to highlight the connection between the work by Witkin and Weiss, and to spotlight a tradition of figurative painting and storytelling out-of-step with current cultural attitudes. As a retrospective, Wonderful Demands provides an overview of Witkin’s progression in fine art while positioning him within the lineage of the old masters he once taught. Weiss honors Witkin’s legacy in sharing gallery space, an admission of his mentor’s great influence, while championing his own unique style and contemporary values. Through this explicit contrast, the past and future meet to create fresh dialogue about the preservation of history, and the value of art in an age of technological progress and ideological upheaval.
Witkin was born in Brooklyn in 1939 to a Jewish father and Roman Catholic mother, and has a twin brother, the photographer Joel Peter Witkin. Known for his realistic and politically charged paintings, Witkin’s artistry has been showcased in prestigious exhibitions worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. He is a retired Professor of Painting from Syracuse University. Witkin is represented by Jack Rutberg Fine Arts in Los Angeles.
Weiss was born in Galveston in 1983, and currently resides in Dallas as the Painting and Filmmaking teacher at The Hockaday School. A teacher for over two decades, he has received recognition for his outstanding work, including the Lifetime Achievement and Teacher of the Year Award from Galveston Independent School District. He obtained his MFA from Syracuse University and now engages in multiple artistic pursuits. His documentary with co-director Aaron Weiss, Song of the Cicada, has received many accolades, including the Audience Award at Austin Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Lone Star Film Festival.
Ro2 Art Gallery
2606 Bataan St.
Dallas, TX 75212
214.803.9575
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