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Barbara Rachko
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 Scene Fifteen: Living Room pastel, 26"×20" |
 Scene Nineteen: Living Room pastel, 20" x 26" |
 Scene Sixteen: Living Room pastel, 26" x 20" |
 She Embraced It and Grew Stronger pastel, 58" x 38" |
 Sometimes He Still Tried to Restrain Her pastel, 58" x 38" |
 Truth Betrayed by Innocence pastel, 58" x 38" |
 Untitled, chromogenic print, 24" x 24", edition of 5 |
 Untitled, chromogenic print, 24" x 24", edition of 5 |
 Untitled, chromogenic print, 24" x 24", edition of 5 |
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Artist Profile Mexican folk art figures placed in everyday settings seethe with symbolism in tableaux that conjure myths, legends, and the world of our own imaginations. The riotous colors and patterns, dramatic light and shadows are compelling. Things are not what they seem. We are thoroughly intrigued. Barbara Rachko’s pastel paintings are influenced by dreams, movies, and mythology. She spends weeks setting up her scenes, rearranging them, and photographing them. Then she painstakingly applies as many as 25 to 30 layers of soft pastel onto acid-free sandpaper. Each pastel painting takes three to four months to complete. The intense color practically leaps off the paper. Barbara Rachko is pushing soft pastel to its limits, doing things with it that no other artist can do. Barbara has received kudos from curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. She was selected to participate in Aljira Emerge2000, a professional development program for artists. Barbara’s resume includes more than 30 solo exhibitions and 150 group shows. She is represented by ArtHaus in San Francisco, CA, Longstreth Goldberg Art in Naples, FL and other galleries throughout the United States. Barbara won an award from Artist's Magazine and her work was featured in the December 2007 issue. Her work was also exhibited in a group show on the third floor of Bergdorf Goodman's in New York, NY, and at Denise Bibro Fine Art Gallery in New York, NY. Praise for Barbara Rachko “The first time I saw Barbara’s work in a gallery window I was instantly drawn to it…the intensity of color…examining the figures…my love of folk art…the furniture and other objects. Somewhere in the middle of all this the skewed perspective hit me. I was hooked!” John Schiek, Collector “Barbara Rachko is the most original artist to emerge in the last decade.” Peter Dellolio, Art Critic “While Rachko’s bright colors and unusual subject matter may initially steal your attention, it’s her strong drawing skills that give these pastel pieces their punch.” Greg Schaber, The Artist’s Magazine
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