1. Alexis Rockman was born on 1962 and is an American contemporary artist known for his paintings that provide depictions of future landscapes as they might exist with impacts of climate change and evolution influenced by genetic engineering.
21 Facts About Alexis Rockman
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Alexis Rockman has exhibited his work in the United States since 1985, including a 2004 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, and internationally since 1989.
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From 1980 to 1982, Alexis Rockman studied animation at the Rhode Island School of Design, and continued studies at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, receiving a BFA in fine arts in 1985.
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Alexis Rockman began exhibiting his work at the Jay Gorney Modern Art gallery in New York City in 1986 and was represented by the gallery from 1986 to 2005.
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Alexis Rockman had exhibitions at galleries in Los Angeles, Boston, and Philadelphia in the late 1980s.
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In Barnyard Scene, Alexis Rockman depicts a raccoon mating with a rooster, and Jungle Fever shows a praying mantis mating with a chipmunk.
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In 1993, Alexis Rockman created Still Life, a still life depiction of a pile of fish and marine specimens, evoking reference to 1935 horror James Whale film Bride of Frankenstein and films by Luis Bunuel.
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In Still Life, Alexis Rockman alludes to the Wunderkammer, placing "aberrant contents" amidst a Baroque still life scene, which traditionally is abundant with wealth and goods from Dutch and Spanish colonies.
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Many of Alexis Rockman's works have been inspired by his travels around the world, including to Costa Rica, Brazil, Madagascar, Guyana, Tasmania, the Galapagos and Antarctica.
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Alexis Rockman traveled to Guyana in 1994 with fellow artist Mark Dion, resulting in numerous paintings of the flora and fauna that he observed.
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Alexis Rockman returned to Guyana in 1998, and his works from that trip focused on aspects of ecotourism.
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Alexis Rockman traveled to Antarctica in 2008 with Dorothy Spears, and works resulting from this voyage were featured in the "Badlands: New Horizons in Landscape" exhibit at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
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Alexis Rockman's painting The Farm was commissioned by Creative Time and exhibited at the Exit Art Gallery in New York City in 2000, as part of the "Paradise Now: Picturing Genetic Revolution" exhibition.
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Alexis Rockman began work on the mural in March 2003, consulting with experts in various fields, including Peter Ward, James Hansen and Cynthia Rosenzweig and scientists at Columbia University's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, as well as architects Diane Lewis and Chris Morris.
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Alexis Rockman's project suggests what the remote geological, botanical, and zoological future might bring, predicting the ecosystem of the area.
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In Romantic Attachments, Alexis Rockman portrays, a male Homo georgicus together with a female human in a romantic encounter.
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In 2005, Ang Lee asked Alexis Rockman to be an "Inspirational Artist" in his adaptation of Life of Pi.
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Non-native plants and animals are placing increasing stress on the state's ecosystems, and the warfare Alexis Rockman depicts is quietly taking place all over the state.
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Alexis Rockman traveled extensively around the Great Lakes region doing research, collecting source imagery, and learning about important issues affecting the lakes on the ground.
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Alexis Rockman is fascinated by film and animation, and has admiration for the work of various film designers.
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Alexis Rockman drew inspiration from Chesley Bonestell's 1950 Collier's magazine illustration Atom Bombing of New York City, which depicts Manhattan amidst destruction and a glowing orange aura of an atomic bomb.