Karen Rifas - Biography

Karen Rifas Portrait (1).jpg
Description

Karen Rifas (Chicago, b. 1942) has shown nationally and internationally since the 1980s. She received her BFA in 1985 and her MFA in 1987 at the University of Miami.

She is also the second recipient of The Michael Richards Award, presented by Oolite Arts. This award is given to a Miami-based artist who has created a recognized body of original, high-quality works over a sustained period of time, and who, through his or her practice, is achieving the highest levels of professional distinction in the visual arts.

Her show at The Bass Museum of Art in 2018 was extremely well-received. In 2020, the Bass Museum of Art commissioned a series of banners by Rifas for their Art Outside initiative. Her work is represented in many public and private collections, including Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico, The Bass Museum of Art, Fairchild Tropical Gardens, Oolite Arts, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places Trust, and Perez Art Museum Miami.

Karen Rifas has had solo exhibitions at Emerson Dorsch (2020), The Bass Museum of Art (2018), Emerson Dorsch (2017), Meetinghouse Gallery (2016), MDC Museum of Art + Design (2015), De La Cruz Collection (2010), Pinnacle Gallery, Savannah College of Art and Design (2007), Polk Museum of Art (2004), Art Center South Florida (now Oolite Arts) (1997) and Museo De Arte Comtemporaneo, Panama City (1993). She has exhibited in numerous group shows and presented the following projects: The Willfulness of Objects, The Bass Musuem of Art (2020-21); Notices in Mutable Terrain, curated by Adler Guerrier, Fundación Atchugarry (2019); Selections from Karen Rifas Papers: Defining Space, Women Artist Archive (2019); Transphysics: istwa, landscapes and paisajes, curated by William Cordova, Art and Culture Center, Hollywood (2017), 100+ Degrees in the Shade: A Survey of South Florida Art, curated by Jane Hart (2015), MIA-BER, Berlin Arts Club (2014), Following the Line, Girls’ Club Collection (2012), I Triennial, Santo Domingo (2010), globe>miami<island, curated by Robert Chambers, DC Museum of Contemporary Art (2002) and The Bass (2001). She taught at New World School of the Arts for many years as well Kendall Campus of Miami Dade College and University of Miami. She lives and works in Miami, FL. Her work is represented by Emerson Dorsch Gallery.

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