Origins: Rick Rothrock & Stan Smokler

The Delaware Contemporary launches its 40th Anniversary year with an exhibition featuring our founder, Rick Rothrock, and long time supporter, Stan Smokler. Together, the work of these celebrated sculptors finds common ground in symbolism and shared visual experiences.

Rick Rothrock
Rothrock captures the natural wonders that subtly surround us and transfigures them into stone sculptures. Ocean waves, animal metamorphoses, and invisible earthly energies all serve as inspirations for Rothrock's dynamic creations. Carvings are made into stone that was formed at a time when this planet was covered with vast colonies of primordial organisms dependent on the water for life. "These stones carry in them the story of their creation much in the same way that they contain the spirit and energy of the continuing process of creation of which we are all a part." - Rick Rothrock

Origins also speaks to The Delaware Contemporary's humble beginnings. Rick Rothrock spearheaded the development of an artist collaborative called the "ArtSquad" in the 1970s that created participatory, environmental art installations throughout the Wilmington area. This endeavor eventually led to the establishment of The Delaware Center For Contemporary Arts, now The Delaware Contemporary. Origins prompts us to look back at the forty-year history of our space, born of innovative spirit, as we celebrate the strides that have been made.

Smokler's steel sculptures lend themselves to new methods and possibilities. These monumental, life-size works and compelling abstract forms are developed from "a unique palette, applying industrial cast-offs, 'found objects' to create sculptures which deliberately deny their past history in order to serve a new formal purpose." - Stan Smokler

Embedded in the resoluteness of his geometric steel works is a wry sense of humor punctuated by color and composition. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website