Rosalyn Drexler
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Rosalyn Drexler (born November 25, 1926) is an American
visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...
, novelist, Obie Award-winning playwright, and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter, and former professional wrestler. Although she has had a polymathic career, Drexler is perhaps best known for her pop art paintings and as the author of the novelization of the film
Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burge ...
, under the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Julia Sorel.Cascone, Susan
"The Artist Rosalyn Drexler, 90, was once a professional wrestler"
Artnet, Retrieved November 11, 2018.
Drexler currently lives and works in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, New York.


Early life and education

Rosalyn Drexler (née Bronznick) was born in 1926 in the
Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, New York.John Yau
"In Conversation: Rosalyn Drexler with John Yau"
''the Brooklyn Rail'', July–August 2007.
She grew up in the Bronx and East Harlem, New York. Drexler had considerable exposure to the performing arts as a child, attending vaudeville acts with her friends and family. Her parents also exposed her to the visual arts at an early age, buying her art posters, books, coloring boxes, and crayons, which she has cited as an influence. She attended the High School of Music and Art in New York City where she majored in voice. She attended Hunter College for one semester only before leaving school to marry figure painter Sherman Drexler at 19 in 1946. She is the subject of many of her husband's paintings. Together, they had a daughter and a son.


Professional wrestling career

In 1951, Drexler and her husband lived in Hell's Kitchen in New York near Botner's Gymnasium, where a number of female
professional wrestlers Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
practiced. After a friend of Drexler's suggested that she might enjoy trying wrestling, she began to work out at Botners. She soon learned how to wrestle without hurting anyone and how to make maximum noise while wrestling to exaggerate the impact of her performance. Drexler eventually travelled for wrestling matches, which allowed her to travel to the South and to Florida under the character of "Rosa Carlo, the Mexican Spitfire." While on tour, she wrestled in odd places such as a graveyard and an airplane-hangar. There is also a photo of her getting ready with an advertisement that she would be fighting
Mae Young Johnnie Mae Young (March 12, 1923 – January 14, 2014) was an American professional wrestler. She wrestled throughout the United States and Canada and won multiple titles in the National Wrestling Alliance. Young is considered one of the pione ...
, a famous professional wrestler. She went on tour around the country, but returned home after becoming upset about racism in the southern states, such as segregated seating and water fountains.
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
made a series of silkscreen paintings based on a photograph of Drexler as Rosa Carlo. Drexler's experience as Rosa Carlo later formed the basis of her 1972 critically acclaimed novel ''To Smithereens.'' She wrote the novel because she hated the experience, but thought it should not be wasted, and she should "at least get a book out of it." The novel was the basis of the 1980 film ''Below the Belt.'' The producers contacted Drexler about the title, to which she said that it was "not a wrestling title at all… utthey said, 'It sounds sexy.'" When she was 54, she tried getting back into being an athlete and entered a power lifting contest, which she did not win. She has made several paintings based around women's wrestling, including ''Take Down'' (1963), ''Lost Match'' (1962), and ''The Winner'' (1965).


Writing career


Novels

*''I Am the Beautiful Stranger'' (1965) *''One or Another'' (1970) *''To Smithereens'' (1972) *''The Cosmopolitan Girl'' (1974) *''Unwed Widow'' (1975)—written under the pseudonym Julia Sorel *''Starburn: The Story of Jenni Love'' (1979) *''Bad Guy'' (1982) *''Art Does (Not!) Exist'' (1996) *''Vulgar Lives'' (2007)


Adapted screenplays

Written under the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Julia Sorel: *''Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway'' (1976)—Adapted from the screenplay by Dalene Young *''
Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burge ...
'' (1976)—Based on the screenplay by Sylvester Stallone *''Alexander, The Other Side of Dawn'' (1977)—Adapted from the screenplay by Dalene Young *''See How She Runs'' (1978)—Adapted from the screenplay by Marvin Gluck


Plays

*''Home Movies'' (1964). *''The Line of Least Existence and Other Plays'' (1967) *"Skywriting" in ''Collision Course'' (1968) *"Hot Buttered Roll" in ''Theatre Experiment: An Anthology of American Plays'' (1968) *''Methuen Playscripts'' (1969) *"Home Movies" in ''The Off-Off Broadway Book: The Plays, People, Theatre'' (1972) *''Fiction'' (1972) *"Skywriting" in ''A Century of Plays by American Women'', edited by Rachel France (1979) *''Transients Welcome: Three One-Act Plays'' (1984) *"Occupational Hazard" in ''Women on the Verge: 7 Avant-Garde American Plays'' (1993)


Productions

*''Home Movies''—
Judson Memorial Church The Judson Memorial Church is located on Washington Square South between Thompson Street and Sullivan Street, near Gould Plaza, opposite Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. ...
,
Provincetown Playhouse The Provincetown Playhouse is a historic theatre at 133 MacDougal Street between West 3rd and West 4th Streets in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is named for the Provincetown Players, who converted the former ...
, NYC 1964 *''The Investigation''—Theatre Company of Boston 1966; New Dramatist's Committee, NYC 1966;
Milwaukee Repertory Theater Milwaukee Repertory Theater ("Milwaukee Rep") is a theater company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded as the Fred Miller Theatre Company, the group is housed in the Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex, which includes the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, ...
1966;
Open Space Theatre The Open Space Theatre was created by Charles Marowitz and Thelma Holt in 1968. It began in a basement on Tottenham Court Road in London, then transferred to an art deco post office on the Euston Road in 1976. Thelma attracted a team of voluntee ...
, London 1969;
Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...
, Ohio 1979 *''The Line of Least Existence''—
Judson Poets' Theatre The Judson Memorial Church is located on Washington Square South between Thompson Street and Sullivan Street, near Gould Plaza, opposite Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. ...
, NYC 1969;
Theatre of the Living Arts The Theatre of Living Arts (known commonly as the TLA) is a concert venue located on South Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The venue, which opened in 1988, dates back to the early 1900s as a nickelodeon. Over the years, the venue has seen ...
, Philadelphia 1970; Traverse, Edinburgh 1968; Network Theatre, NYC 1980 *''Hot Buttered Roll''—New Dramatist's Committee, NYC 1968;
Milwaukee Repertory Theater Milwaukee Repertory Theater ("Milwaukee Rep") is a theater company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded as the Fred Miller Theatre Company, the group is housed in the Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex, which includes the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, ...
1966;
Open Space Theatre The Open Space Theatre was created by Charles Marowitz and Thelma Holt in 1968. It began in a basement on Tottenham Court Road in London, then transferred to an art deco post office on the Euston Road in 1976. Thelma attracted a team of voluntee ...
, London 1969 *''Skywriting''—Cafe Au GoGo, NYC 1968;
Dowling College Dowling College was a private college on Long Island, New York. It was established in 1968 and had its main campus located in Oakdale, New York on the site of William K. Vanderbilt's mansion Idle Hour. Dowling also included a campus in Shirley, ...
, Suffolk County, NY 1973 *''The Ice Queen''—The Proposition, Boston 1973; Kornblee Gallery, NYC 1965 (with puppets) *''Softly and Consider the Nearness''—
Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has g ...
, NYC 1973; West Carolina University, NC 1973 *''The Bed Was Full''—New Dramatist's Committee, NYC 1972 *''She Who Was He''—
Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...
, Richmond 1974; Odeon Theatre, New York 1974 *''Travesty Parade''—
Center Theatre Group Center Theatre Group is a non-profit arts organization located in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the ...
, Los Angeles 1974 *''The Writer's Opera''—Theatre for the New City, NYC 1979. *''Graven Image''—Theatre for the New City, NYC 1980; Oberlin College, Ohio 1980 *''Vulgar Lives''— La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, NYC 1979 *''The Tree Artist''—Gateway, Long Island, NY 1981 *''Starburn''—Theatre for the New City, NYC 1983 *''The Mandrake''— Center Stage, Baltimore 1983 *''Dear''— SoHo Repertory, NYC 1983 *''Room 17C''—Omaha Magic, NE 1983 *''Delicate Feelings''—Theatre for the New City, NYC 1984


Television

Drexler was one of 15 writers for the 1973 CBS comedy special ''Lily'', starring
Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...
,
Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war come ...
, and
Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...
.


Career in the visual arts

Drexler began making found-object sculptures for display in her home while living in Berkeley, California where her husband was finishing his art degree. The sculptures were plaster accretions, built around found scrap metal and wood armatures, and reflected the informal Abstract-Expressionist-influenced Beat sculpture of the time. In 1955, Drexler exhibited her first works alongside her husband's paintings. At the urging of David Smith and dealer Ivan Karp, she continued to exhibit after the couple moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. One critic called these early works "ridiculous and nutty" sculptures that revealed a "real beauty beneath their I-don't-care attitudes." Her works were shown in New York in 1960 at Reuben Gallery, at which she participated in
Happenings A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...
. Her work was praised by David Smith and
Franz Kline Franz Kline (May 23, 1910 – May 13, 1962) was an American painter. He is associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and 1950s. Kline, along with other action painters like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mot ...
of the New York School. When the Reuben Gallery closed after one year, she received no offers because "women culptorswere not bankable at hetime." She made a swift shift to painting in an attempt to gain more offers. She did odd jobs to make a living while artmaking, including being a waitress, a
cigarette girl In Europe and the United States, a cigarette girl is a person who sells or provides cigarettes from a tray held by a neck strap. They may also carry cigars and other items like candy, snacks, and chewing gum on their trays. Uniform The most ...
, a hatcheck, and a masseuse. By 1961, Drexler started changing her work from assemblage to Pop Art. She searched through old magazines, posters, and newspapers to source imagery for her paintings. Her self-taught process consisted of blowing up images from magazines and newspapers, collaging them onto canvas, and then painting over them in bright, saturated colors. She also has a fondness for Elmer's Glue in her work, saying it "doesn't get enough credit for its role in art." Drexler has never had a studio of her own while she wasn't a student, and usually worked anywhere she could, typically the home. Drexler signed with Kornblee Gallery, where she had solo shows in 1964–1966. In January 1964 her work was included in the "First International Girlie Exhibit" at
Pace Gallery The Pace Gallery is an American contemporary and modern art gallery with 9 locations worldwide. It was founded in Boston by Arne Glimcher in 1960. His son, Marc Glimcher, is now president and CEO. Pace Gallery operates in New York, London, Hong ...
, New York. She and
Marjorie Strider Marjorie Virginia Strider (January 26, 1931 – August 27, 2014) was an American painter, sculptor and performance artist best known for her three-dimensional paintings and site-specific soft sculpture installations. Biography Born in 1931 in Gu ...
were the only two women Pop artists included in this exhibition, which also featured
Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
, Lichtenstein, and
Tom Wesselmann Thomas K. Wesselmann (February 23, 1931 – December 17, 2004) was an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement who worked in painting, collage and sculpture. Early years Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati. From 1949 to 1951 he atte ...
. Drexler exhibited collages cut and pasted from girlie magazines. The work scandalized some, but her paintings were mostly well received. One critic noted, "Miss Drexler's collage paintings…fly through contemporary life and fantasy with a virtuosic, uninhibited imagination that is refreshingly direct in its frank expression of brutality, desire, pathos and playfulness." Drexler's paintings continued to enjoy favorable reviews and were exhibited in major Pop art exhibitions throughout the 1960s. She did not gain the level of recognition of many of her male peers; the major themes in her paintings—violence against women, racism, social alienation—were controversial topics in a genre known for being "cool" and detached. She's stated:
I was happy being productive and having good friends and being ignored. But now I'm getting angry about it, looking back!
Drexler's Pop paintings have been identified more recently as early feminist artworks, although Drexler objected to this categorization, denying any deliberate political message in her work. In spite of this, in 1968, Drexler signed the "
Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse of ...
" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. In 2018 her work received renewed critical attention and a career retrospective exhibition at the
Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the permanent col ...
.""Rosalyn Drexler" Who Does She Think She Is?"
Rose Art Museum, Retrieved July 29, 2018.
In 2022, the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was desig ...
referenced the name of Drexler's 1963 painting "Put it this way" in their exhibit "Put It This Way: (Re)visions of The Hirshhorn Collection," which will run until Fall 2023.


Major themes and works

As well as drawing from her own experience, Drexler's work often revolves around women's roles as portrayed in pulp cinema, including women as moll, femme fatale,
home wrecker "Home Wrecker" is the seventeenth episode of the seventh season ''American Dad!''. It aired on Fox in the United States on May 8, 2011. This episode mainly centers around the couple of Stan and Francine, whom become divided over the architect ...
- those in need of "moral comeuppance". Her images were drawn from easily understood public media. Her ''The Love and Violence'' series is a body of paintings that depicts abusive relationships between men and women. The canvases evoke the covers of
pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...
novels, B-movie posters, and scenes from gangster films or film noir. Works such as ''I Won't Hurt You'' (1964), ''This is My Wedding'' (1963), and ''Rape'' (1962) depict sexual violence against women. While the men depicted are most often the abusers, in some paintings, such as ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' (1964) and ''Dangerous Liaison'' (1963), the dynamic between the male and female subjects is left more indeterminate. Other works in this series include ''The Bite'' (1963), ''Love and Violence'' (1965), and'' Baby, It's Alright'' (1963). ''Is It True What They Say About Dixie?'' (1966) was inspired by a newspaper photo of
Bull Connor Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973) was an American politician who served as Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, for more than two decades. A member of the Democratic Party, ...
, the police chief who instigated the
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
race riot of 1963, leading a group of white supremacists. The figures advance towards the viewer dressed in black suits against a stark white background. The painting, with a title taken from an American popular song, acts as an ironic commentary on the racial violence of her time. Similar in composition and intent is the painting ''F.B.I.'' (1964) that both glamorizes the depicted government agents and questions their status as figures of authority. The ''Men and Machines'' series, showing working men with various types of mechanical equipment, portrays Cold-War era images of technological advancements and plays on the cliché of machines as phallic symbols of male sexual power. Paintings in this series include ''Pilot to Tower'' (1966). ''Marilyn Pursued by Death'' (1967) is an image of
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
being followed by a male figure. Although "Death" appears to be a stalker or member of the paparazzi, the photograph after which the painting was made makes clear that the man is actually her bodyguard. Paintings made after movie posters include ''King Kong aka The Dream'' (1963), modeled after the lobby card for John Lemont's 1961 film ''
Konga Konga () is a locality situated in Tingsryd Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of ...
'', and ''Chubby Checker'' (1964), based on the poster for 1961 movie musical ''
Twist Around the Clock ''Twist Around the Clock'' is an American musical film released in 1961. It was a remake of Sam Katzman and Robert E. Kent's ''Rock Around the Clock.'' Like ''Rock Around the Clock,'' which was followed by a sequel titled ''Don't Knock the Rock ...
''.


Connections with other artists

Drexler has listed
Franz Kline Franz Kline (May 23, 1910 – May 13, 1962) was an American painter. He is associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and 1950s. Kline, along with other action painters like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mot ...
and Bill and
Elaine de Kooning Elaine Marie Catherine de Kooning (, née Fried; March 12, 1918 – February 1, 1989) was an Abstract Expressionist and Figurative Expressionist painter in the post-World War II era. She wrote extensively on the art of the period and was an edit ...
as close friends of her and her husband. She also had connections to
Eva Hesse Eva Hesse (January 11, 1936 – May 29, 1970) was a German-born American sculptor known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics. She is one of the artists who ushered in the postminimal art movement in the 196 ...
, George Segal (whom she posed for), Lucas Samaras,
Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...
, Billy Kluver, Bob Beauchamp, Dodie Müller, Alice Neel, and
Joy Harjo Joy Harjo ( ; born May 9, 1951) is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetr ...
. She also worked on plays with John Vaccaro, whom she described as "a terrifying creative projectile…"


Solo exhibitions

*Reuben Gallery, New York, February 19 – March 10 (1960) *''Rosalyn Drexler'', Kornblee Gallery, New York, March 17 – April 14 (1964) *''Rosalyn Drexler'', Ward-Nasse Gallery, Boston, October 3–22 (1964) *''Rosalyn Drexler'', Kornblee Gallery, New York, April 24 – May 8 (1965) *''Rosalyn Drexler'', Kornblee Gallery, New York, March 19 – April 14 (1966) *''Rosalyn Drexler'', The Contemporary Gallery, Jewish Community Center, Kansas City, Missouri, November 4–24 (1967) *''Rosalyn Drexler: Intimate Emotions'', Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University, New York, July 14 – August 28, 1986; Greenville County Museum of Art, South Carolina, September 9 – October 12, 1986; Museum of Art, University of Iowa, Iowa City, November 1, 1986 – January 11, 1987 (1987) *''Life: The Magic Show'', La MaMa Galleria, New York, November (1992) *''Nothing Personal: Recent Paintings'', Maurine and Robert Rothschild Gallery, Bunting Institute, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 27 – October 18 (1998) *''I Won't Hurt You: Paintings, 1962–1999'', Nicholas Davies Gallery, New York, March 7 – April 8 (2000) *''Rosalyn Drexler: To Smithereens'', Paintings, 1961–2003, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, February 27 – April 9 (2004) *''Rosalyn Drexler and the Ends of Man: Works from 1961–2001'', Paul Robeson Gallery, Rutgers University–Newark, September 5 – October 18 (2006) *''Rosalyn Drexler: I Am the Beautiful Stranger'', Paintings of the '60s, Pace Wildenstein, New York, March 16 – April 21 (2007) *''Rosalyn Drexler: Vulgar Lives'', Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, February 19 – March 28 (2015) *''Rosalyn Drexler: Who Does She Think She Is?'',
Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the permanent col ...
, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, February 11, 2016 – June 6, 2016; Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, October 22, 2016 – January 29, 2017; Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, February 10 – April 17, 2017 (2016)


Select group exhibitions

*''Rosalyn and Sherman Drexler'', Courtyard Gallery, Berkeley, California, November 29 – December 15 (1954) *''Homage to Albert Camus'', Stuttman Gallery, New York, New York, May 4–28 (1960) *''New Forms—New Media II'', Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, September 28 – October 22 (1960) *''The Closing Show: 1952–1962'', Tanager Gallery, New York, May 25 – June 14 (1962) *''Rosalyn Drexler and Tom Doyle'', Zabriskie Gallery, New York, April 15 – May 4 (1963) *''Contemporary Sculptors'', Riverside Museum, New York, New York. April–May 26 (1963) *''Summer Shades,'' Kornblee Gallery, New York, New York, July 6–31 (1963) *''Pop Art USA'', Oakland Art Museum, California, and
California College of the Arts California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996 it opened a second campus in Sa ...
, Oakland, September 7–29 *''Mixed Media and Pop Art'',
Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...
, Buffalo, New York, November 19 – December 15 *''Inform and Interpret'',
American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 w ...
, New York (1964) * Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Washington, DC (1964) *First International Girlie Show, Pace Gallery, New York, January 7–25; Pace Gallery, Boston, February 16 – March 11 (1964) *''Some Contemporary American Figure Painters'', Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, May 1–31 (1964) *''Collage-Assemblage Exhibition'', Pace Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, December 1–31 (1964) *''The Painter and the Photograph'', Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, October 5 – November 2, 1964; Museum of Art,
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...
, Bloomington, November 15 – December 20, 1964; Museum of Art,
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
, Iowa City, January 3 – February 10, 1965; Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, New Orleans, February 28 – March 22, 1965; Museum of Art,
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
, Albuquerque, April 1 – May 7, 1965; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California, May 19 – June 21, 1965 (1964) *''American Federation of Arts: Inform and Interpret,''
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...
, West Lafayette, IN, October 1–22, 1965; Akron Art Museum, OH, November 5–26, 1965; Contemporary Arts Association, Houston, TX, December 10–31, 1965; Centennial Art Museum, Corpus Christi, TX, January 14 – February 4, 1966; Juniata College, Huntington, PA, February 23 – March 16, 1966;
Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...
, NY, May 3–24, 1966; State University College, Brockport, NY, July 20 – August 17, 1966; State University of New York, Potsdam, October 5–26, 1966 (1964) *''Recent Acquisitions'',
Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
, New York, New York, May 19, 1965 – May 15, 1966 (1965) *''Eleven from the Reuben Gallery'',
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
, New York, January (1965) *''The New American Realism'', Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, February 18 – April 4 (1965) *''Pop Art and the American Tradition'', Milwaukee Art Center, Wisconsin, April 9 – May 9 (1965) *''The Harry N. Abrams Family Collection'', Jewish Museum, New York, June 29 – September 5 (1966) *''The Helen W. and Robert M. Benjamin Collection,''
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
, New Haven, Connecticut, May 4 – June 18 (1967) *''Protest and Hope: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art'', Wollman Hall, New School Art Center, New York City, October 24 – December 2 (1967) *''Homage to Marilyn Monroe'', Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, December 6–30 (1967) *''Selections from the Permanent Collection'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, December 1968–February (1969) *''January '70: Contemporary Women Artists'', Hathorn Gallery,
Skidmore College Skidmore College is a Private school, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Scien ...
, Saratoga Springs, New York, January 6–29 (1970) *''Pop Plus: Selections from the Permanent Collection'', Whitney Museum of American Art Downtown Branch, New York, New York, June 20 – August 16 (1970) *''Women in the Permanent Collection'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, December 16, 1970 – January 19, 1971 (1970) *''Unmanly Art'', Suffolk Museum, Stony Brook, New York, October 14 – November 24 (1972) *
Rockland Community College Rockland Community College (RCC) is a public community college in the town of Ramapo, New York in Rockland County. It is part of the State University of New York. The college, established in 1959, became the 18th community college to join the ...
, State University of New York, Suffern (1973) *''Six Women at Bienville'', Bienville Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 27 – April 13 (1974) *''American Pop Art'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6 – June 16 (1974) *''Pop Plus: Selections from the Permanent Collection'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 20 – August 15 (1977) *''Another Aspect of Pop Art'', Institute for Art and Urban Resources, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Queens, New York, October 1 – November 19 (1978) *''Women Artists in Washington Collections'', Art Gallery,
University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
, January 18 – February 25 (1979) *''American Women Artists: Part I'', 20th Century Pioneers, Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, January 12 – February 4 (1984) *''1+1'', Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York, January 24 – February 18 (1984) *''The New Portrait'', Institute for Art and Urban Resources, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Queens, New York, April 25 – June 10 (1984) *''Made in U.S.A.: An Americanization in Modern Art, the '50s and '60s,'' University Art Museum,
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, April 4 – June 21;
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art. In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...
, Kansas City, Missouri, July 25 – September 6; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 7 – December 7 (1987) *''The Abortion Project'', Simon Watson Gallery, New York, March 30 – April 27 (1991) *Anniversary Invitational, AIR Gallery, New York (1992) *''In the Ring,'' Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, New York, March 21 – September 6 (1993) *''Pop Art: U.S./U.K. Connections, 1956–1966,'' Menil Collection, Houston, January 26 – May 13 (2001) *''Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of American Art and Popular Culture'',
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum is an art museum located on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, within the university's Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. Founded in 1881 as the St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts, it ...
,
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
, Missouri, November 16, 2007 – January 28, 2008 (2007) *''50 Years at Pace'', Pace Gallery, New York, September 17 – October 23 (2010) *''Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958–1968'', Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, January 22 – March 15, 2010; Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, Nebraska, July 30 – September 10, 2010; Brooklyn Art Museum, New York, October 10, 2010 – January 9, 2011;
Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
Art Gallery, Medford, Massachusetts, January 20 – April 3 (2011) *''Power Up: Female Pop Art'', Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, November 5, 2010 – February 20, 2011; Deichtorhallen Hamburg, April 29 – July 10, 2011; Städtische Galerie Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany, July 23 – October 9 (2011) *''In the Pink'', Joe Sheftel Gallery, New York, June 21 – July 3 (2012) *''Sinister Pop'', Whitney Museum of American Art, November 15, 2012–March 31 (2013) *''Pop Abstraction'', Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, January 18 – February 15 (2014) *''Pop to Popism'', Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, November 1, 2014 – March 1, 2015 (2014) *''Paper'', Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, July 9 – August 14 (2015) *''International Pop'',
Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...
, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 11 – September 6;
Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...
, Dallas, Texas, October 11, 2015 – January 17, 2016; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, February 24 – May 15 (2015) *''Human Interest: Portraits from the Whitney's Collection'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6, 2016 – February 12, 2017 (2016) *''Inventing Downtown: Artist-Run Galleries in New York City, 1952–1965'', Grey Art Gallery,
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
, January 10 – April 1 (2017) *''March Madness'',
Fort Gansevoort Fort Gansevoort is a former United States Army fort in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It was also known as the White Fort due to its whitewashed exterior. History The fort was named for Peter Gansevoort, a Revolutionary War offi ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, March 17 – May 7 (2017) *''POP ART - Icons that matter'', Collection du Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, musée Maillol, Paris - September 22, 2017 – January 21, 2018 (2018)


Public collections

*
Allen Memorial Art Museum The Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) is an art museum located in Oberlin, Ohio, and it is run by Oberlin College. Founded in 1917, the collection contains over 15,000 works of art. Overview The AMAM is primarily a teaching museum and is aimed at ...
, Oberlin College, Ohio * Davison Art Center,
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
, Connecticut *
Grey Art Gallery The Grey Art Gallery is New York University’s fine art museum, located on historic Washington Square Park, in New York City's Greenwich Village. As a university art museum, the Grey Art Gallery functions to collect, preserve, study, document, in ...
and Study Center,
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
, New York *
Greenville County Museum of Art The Greenville County Museum of Art (GCMA) is an art museum located in Greenville, South Carolina. Its collections focus mainly on American art, and its holdings include works by Andrew Wyeth, Josef Albers, Jasper Johns (raised in South Carolina), ...
, South Carolina *
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was desig ...
, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. *
Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School lands ...
, Hartford, Connecticut *
Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...
, Minneapolis, Minnesota *
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
, New York * Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Winter Park, Florida * Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia *
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
, Philadelphia *
Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the permanent col ...
,
Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...
, Waltham, Massachusetts


Select awards

*1964 Obie Award for Distinguished Play, ''Home Movies'' *1965, 1968, 1974, 1986 Rockefeller Grants in Playwriting *1966
Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Phil ...
Humor Prize, ''Dear'' *1970-71 Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction *1973 Emmy Award for Best Writing for Comedy-Variety (Special Program), ''Lily'' *1979 Obie Award for Best Playwriting, ''The Writer's Opera'' *1985 Obie Award for Best Playwriting, ''Transients Welcome'' *1990 New York Foundation for the Arts, Grant in Playwriting *1991
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
, Grant in Theater *1994, 2000
Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expressio ...
, Grant in Painting *1997-8 Bunting Fellowship at Radcliffe College/
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, Visual Arts-Painting *2005 Helen & George Segal Foundation, Grant in Painting *2007 Honorary Degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia


References in pop culture

In 1975, Drexler was the subject of ''Who Does She Think She Is?'' (1975), an hour-long film directed by Patricia Lewis Jaffe and Gaby Rodgers. Her novel ''To Smithereens'' suggested ''Below the Belt'' in 1980, directed by Robert Fowler.


References


Further reading

*Johnston, Jill. "Rosalyn Drexler and Tom Doyle abriskie; April 15–May 4 (exhibition review). ''Art News'' 62 (April 1963): 14. *Sontag, Susan. "Going to Theater, etc." ''Partisan Review'' (Summer 1964). *Bourdon, David. "A Bout With Roslayn Drexler." ''Village Voice'', 1965: 5–6. *Lippard, Lucy. ''Pop Art''. New York: Praeger, 1966. *Drexler, Rosalyn. "Eight Artists Reply: Why Have There been No Great Women Artists?" ''Art News'' 69 (January 1971): 40–41. *Hess, Thomas B. and E.C. Baker. ''Art & Sexual Politics: Women's Liberation, Women Artists and Art History''. New York: Art News Series, Collier Books, 1973. *Alloway, Lawrence. ''American Pop Art''. New York: Collier Books, 1974. *Alloway, Lawrence. ''Topics in American Art since 1945''. New York: W.W. Norton Co., 1975. *''Women in the Arts: Artists Choice, 1976–1977.'' New York: Women in the Arts Foundation, 1976. *Munro, Eleanor C. ''Originals: American Women Artists''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. *Taylor, Roger G. ''Marilyn in Art''. London: Elm Tree Books, 1984. *Russell, John. "Intimate Emotions" (exhibition review). ''The New York Times'', July 25, 1986. *Newhall, Edith. "Eye of the Prophet." ''New York Magazine'', August 11, 1986: 15. *Drexler Rosalyn and Steve Bottoms,
Rosalyn Drexler, Interviewed by Steve Bottoms, NYC, 14/8/96
, August 14, 1996. *Danatt, Adrian. "NY Artist Q&A: Rosalyn Drexler" (interview). ''The Art Newspaper'', (March 2000): 77. *De Salvo, Donna. "Underrated: Rosalyn Drexler." ''Art News'' (December 2000): 121–130. *Brauer, David E. ''Pop Art: US/UK Connections'' (exhibition catalogue). Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2001. *''To Smithereens: Paintings 1961–2003'' (exhibition catalogue). Texts by Sid Sachs and Robert Storr. Philadelphia: The University of The Arts, 2004. *''Rosalyn Drexler and the Ends of Man: Works from 1961–2001'' (exhibition catalogue). Newark, NJ: Paul Robeson Gallery,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
, 2006. *''Rosalyn Drexler: I am the Beautiful Stranger. Paintings of the '60s'' (exhibition catalogue). Text by Arne Glimcher and Rosalyn Drexler. New York: PaceWildenstein, 2007. *Baker, R.C. "Mexican Spitfire Returns" (PaceWildenstein exhibition preview). ''Village Voice'', March 7–13, 2007. *Yau, John. "Rosalyn Drexler: I am the Beautiful Stranger—Paintings of the '60s" (exhibition review). ''The Brooklyn Rail'', March 16–April 21, 2007: 36. *Minioudaki, Kalliopi. "Pop's Ladies and Bad Girls: Axell, Pauline Boty and Rosalyn Drexler."'' Oxford Art Journal'' 30.3 2007, 402-430. *Sachs, Sid and Kalliopi Minioudaki, eds. ''Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968''. xhibition catalogueUniversity of the Arts, Philadelphia. New York and London: Abbeville Press, 2010. *Hirsch, Faye. "Rosalyn Drexler." ''Art in America'', (May 2015):105, 157.


External links


Rosalyn Drexler at Garth Greenan Gallery
o
artnet
*
Profile at Garth Greenanrosalyndrexler.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drexler, Rosalyn 1926 births Living people Modern artists Screenwriters from New York (state) American tax resisters Emmy Award winners American pop artists American women painters Painters from New York (state) 20th-century American women artists Artist authors The High School of Music & Art alumni 21st-century American women artists