Jason Fayette Rhoades (July 9, 1965 – August 1, 2006) was an American

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often calle ...

ist. Better known in Europe, where he exhibited regularly for the last twelve years of his life, Rhoades was celebrated for his combination dinner party/

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

s that feature violet neon signs (a form of

word art Word art or text art is a form of art that includes text, forming words or phrases, as its main component; it is a combination of language and visual imagery. Overview There are two main types of word art: *One uses words or phrases because of ...

) with African, Caribbean, Creole and hip hop slang for the

female genitalia A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...

Early life and education

Jason Fayette Rhoades was born July 9, 1965 in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, an incorporated community in

Placer County Placer County ( ; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn. Placer County is included in the Grea ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. Rhoades attended

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 San ...

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

for one year; followed by study at the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximatel ...

, where he earned a BFA degree in 1988. While attending SFAI, he studied under

Irene Pijoan Irene Pijoan (1953 – 2004) was a Swiss-born American painter, sculptor, and educator. She was active in the San Francisco Bay Area and taught at the San Francisco Art Institute for more than 20 years. Early life and education Irene Pijoan ...

. In 1988, he attended

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 t ...

. Rhoades received his MFA degree from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

(UCLA) in 1993. He studied under

Paul McCarthy Paul McCarthy (born August 4, 1945) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Life McCarthy was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1945. He studied art at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, and later continued ...

at UCLA.

Career and death

In 1993, Rhoades had his first solo exhibition at

David Zwirner Gallery David Zwirner Gallery is an American contemporary art gallery owned by David Zwirner. It has four gallery spaces in New York City and one each in London, Hong Kong, and Paris. History The Zwirner Gallery opened in 1993 on the ground floor of ...

in New York City, New York. The following year in 1994, he had his first West Coast solo exhibition at Rosamund Felsen Gallery in Santa Monica, California. He became known for his installation (or "scatter art"). Rhoades died August 1, 2006 in Los Angeles of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

. He was married to Australian-born artist Rachel Khedoori and they had daughter named Rubi. His work remains part of the permanent collection in the Rubell Family Collection in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

, where he was a part of exhibit "Beg Borrow and Steal" at the time of his death.

Notes

Diane Haithman. "Artist's death ruled accidenta

, ''Los Angeles Times'', October 7, 2006

External links

Heimir Björgúlfsson, Interview with Jason Rhoades, ''Artnet'', 2006

* ttp://brandl-art-articles.blogspot.ch/2013/11/obit-jason-rhoades-august-1-2006.html Mark Staff Brandl, Obit Jason Rhoades, ''Art Articles'', 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoades, Jason 1965 births 2006 deaths Artists from California People from Newcastle, California San Francisco Art Institute alumni American installation artists California College of the Arts alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni