Stuart Rapeport is an artist working in painting and sculpture out of his Highland Park studio (the front of which doubles as a gift shop for Chicken Boy!) A California native raised in Mar Vista, he pursued a degree in painting at Cal State Northridge, Cal State LA, and Cal Arts.
Click above for a gallery of Stuart Rapeport’s work!
Working in a variety of media, Rapeport’s candid technique allows for a direct reading of works that combine interests in American political history, the role of the spectator, and man’s best friend.
His nearly life-sized plywood figure cutouts (featuring characters as diverse as Blank Panther Party Members, Joan Baez, and Kareem Abdul Jabaar) act as stand-ins for a warm body in the room — an experiment by Rapeport to see if it was possible to create an area of concentration in the space between a painting and sculpture real viewers would avoid intruding upon. Rapeport also brings his sculptures into public and photo-documents their interactions with viewers — for example, a boxy critic is positioned outside MOCA to stare longingly at one of it’s exterior walls. A grouping of Rapeport’s cutout figures were included as audience members of the LA Theatre (as part of the production and to sate a policy capping attendance).
His latest series of paintings incorporates playing cards as subject to incorporate themes of chance and luck into what has become a return to an abstracted style of painting. You can see more of Stuart’s work on his website and in person at the El Camino College in Torrance, CA (date forthcoming).
