About the Artist David Roth studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design and was twice the recipient at the Maholy-Nagy Scholarship in visual design. It was Roth's initial work as a designer at fine art for commercial use that brought him interesting positions as art director for such firms as Lanvin, Charles at the Ritz, and Germain Monteil. Establishing his color programs on graph paper, Roth uses the programs as a guide in translating that configuration into string dyed in liquitex. The strings are tied in bunches and closely hung tram a wooden bar. The size and shape of the string is similar to that at a canvas painting. Each bundle is represented by a vertical row at squares on the graph and the groupings at string are lined up along the wall according to the horizontal rows at the program. The six primary and secondary colors are used in their full intensity along with black, grey, and white. As a painter Roth works to formulate with color. Some painters regard color as a concomitant of form, hence a subordinate, but Roth's color is the chief medium of his pictorial language. A programmed juxtaposition at primary color allows Roth and the viewer to play upon various combinations. The graphs Roth executes are proportioned according to a strict mathematical formula - the pictures are Composed according to horizontal and vertical divisions on the graph paper. The optical quality of color, deliberately sought, has its roots in the Bauhaus investigations of illusion, and thus has a direct relationship to the Op art produced in postwar Europe. Roth has arranged his hues so as to persuade the planes to separate from the ground on which they are planted, and float free in space. It is almost as if Roth is giving us a "readout" on his creative process. Although the graphs appear to vary in their use of color the same colors are used throughout, also the same amount of color. Roth's work illustrates the sophistication of the human eye-brain relationship that has developed and invites the viewer to participate in the evolution at visionary ideas. One Man Shows 1966 The Gallery Upstairs, Buffalo, New York 1967 The Gallery Upstairs, Buffalo, New York 1969 The House of Graphics, New York 1969 Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois 1972 Robert Elkon Gallery, New York 1973 Robert Elkon Gallery, New York 1974 Robert Elkon Gallery, New York 1975 Michael Wyman Gallery, Chicago 1975 Robert Elkon Gallery, New York 1976 G.W. Einstein, New York 1976 Robert Elkon Gallery, New York 1977 Robert Elkon Gallery, New York 1977 G.W. Einstein, New York 1978 Sunne Savage Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts 1978 Robert Elkon Gallery, New York 1979 Nancy Roth Gallery, Katonah, New York Group Exhibitions 1967 State University of New York, Buffalo Mr. Richard Brown Baker |
