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Bio

RICHARD SHELTON is an artist whose career spans the last five decades.

Primarily a painter, his work bridges to literature as well. His writings include poems, short novels, essays and commentary on Art and Art history.

Richard Shelton's artwork is in the Smithsonian Art Institute's Hirshhorn Museum and other museums in the United States. For over five decades, Richard Shelton has used the human figure to express his observations about the world and the times in which we live. By using the average American as the subject, Shelton probes issues of alienation, the insidious ascendancy of corporate culture, and the minefield of gender politics.

 

Throughout his career, Shelton has pursued painting with an unswerving concern to portray the underlying motives of our actions. The ongoing development of his painting technique as well as his perfection of figurative painting set him apart from artists who discard the more rigorous principles of art making.

His poetry and stories can be found in the following publications: Willard & Maple, The Chaffin Journal, Down in the Dirt, The Poet's Haven, The Eclectic Muse, Pulse Literary Journal, Languageandculture.net, and  Stepping Stone Magazine.

Education 

1963 - 1964

Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles, CA

1965 - 1967

California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles, CA

1974 - 1976

Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Los Angeles, CA

Exhibitions 

Solo

2017

2015

2015

2004

2002

Experimental Performance and Art Exhibition, LA Art Show, Los Angeles, CA

Richard Shelton: The War Show, Temporary Space LA, Los Angeles, CA

Richard Shelton: 50 Years of Painting, Temporary Space LA, Los Angeles, CA

Ten Year Survey, Mt. San Antonio College Art Gallery, Walnut, CA

Recent Paintings, Fumkin/Duval Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

2001

2001

1998

1995

1993

Corporate Men, Frumkin/Duval Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

A Survey: 1967-1999, Frumkin/Duval Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

Mesa College Art Gallery, San Diego, CA

1991

Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1991

Joslyn Fine Arts Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1989

California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA

1987

Thinking Eye Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1985

Thinking Eye Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1982

Cuesta College Art Gallery, San Luis Obispo, CA

Group

2018

"Artists Paint Artists," curated by Molly Barnes, West LA College, Culver City, CA

2013

"Letters from Los Angeles," Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA

2011

2010

2007

2006

2006

2003

"Flagstop: Alternative Contemporary Argument," curated by Lily Siegel

"Life After Life," College of the Canyons Art Gallery, Santa Clarita, CA

"A Painting Exhibition," College of the Canyons Art Gallery, Santa Clarita, CA

"NUDE," Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA

"Art of Engagement," Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA

"Whiteness," curated by Tyler Stallings, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna, CA

2002

"Quiet Traces: Still Life," Mt. San Antonio College Art Gallery, Walnut, CA

2001

2001

"The World of Figure," LIMN Gallery, San Francisco, CA

"Face to Face," University Art Gallery, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA

2001

2001

2001

"Chouinard: A Living Legacy," Oceanside Museum of Art, Seattle, WA

"Evidence of Love," Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA

"Representing LA," Frye Museum of Art, Seattle, WA, traveling exhibition

1997

"Hirshhorn Collects," Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.

1996

1996

"Objects," Municipal Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA

"re-Pop," Jose Drudis-Biada Art Gallery, Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, CA

1994

"Closing the Chapter," Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1994

1994

"Sketchy Beginnings," Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Sylmar, CA

"What's Next? Reassessing our Values After the Quake," Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1993

Los Angeles Juried Exhibition, Municipal Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA

1989

1988

"Art L.A./89," Thinking Eye Gallery, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA

"Art L.A./88," Thinking Eye Gallery, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA

1987

"Small Images," Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, CA

1987

1987

"Recent Figurative Art," Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, CA

"Art L.A./87," Thinking Eye Gallery, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA

1984

"Artists Call," curated by Arnold Mesches, Thinking Eye Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1984

1984

"Nature Before and After Fallout," So. California Contemporary Galleries, Los Angeles, CA

"International Art Competition," Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, CA

1972

"Downtown Loft Show," 1019 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

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