EXCERPTS FROM ROGER’S PUBLISHED REVIEWS
RiNO’s Horn, Rex Brown, January 2011
Strange Attractors, Pattern Shop Studio, Denver, Colorado
“Roger's multi-layered paintings in the show are centered on the geometry and mathematics of ancient civilizations. … Roger's interest is to show the universality of the geometric relationships they express. He does this by coloring the various arcs, circles, squares and triangles and highlighting their intersections under layer after layer of acrylic paint, some layers containing words and word fragments in an unknown language, scattered about the paintings like pottery shards at an archaeological dig.
If you are not curious about the human mind and the evolution of ideas, Roger's paintings will make you curious. Moreover, they will show you, if you didn't already appreciate it, how important artists like Roger are for inducing wonder and engaging our inquisitive instincts.”
Rocky Mountain News, Mary Voelz Chandler, April 16, 2003
“Panopticon 21”, Cordell Taylor Gallery, Denver, CO
“The members of iMiNiMi – alumni of Core New Art Space with different medium in their arsenal – here pool their resources to create a total environment. Although this work stops short of being frightening, it succeeds of being strongly suggestive of mind control and the intrusion of authority, from the motion sensor at the entry to the whispers and growls emerging from guard towers. (The monitors in the back show tape shot opening night of visitors unaware they were part of the show.) …Yet the work shows impeccable attention to detail; that was true of their last installation, the media related ‘Beyond Equilibrium’, …As well they have injected their individual viewpoints in wall panels. But in the end those are subordinate to the finely crafted, engrossing whole.”
Westword, Michael Paglia, April 24, 2003
“Panopticon 21”, Cordell Taylor Gallery, Denver CO
“…an ambitious multimedia installation that looks at the issue of personal privacy in an increasingly security-conscious world. …iMiNiMi’s point is clear. Whether at the shopping mall, or on the street or in the gallery, the 21st century is one big panopticon.”
Westword, Michael Paglia, March 14, 2002
“Beyond Equilibrium”, Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood, CO
“The enormous ‘Beyond Equilibrium’ fills the South Gallery space to the maximum. Their piece is total environment. The gallery’s lights have been dimmed to different levels”
Rocky Mountain News, Mary Voelz Chandler, April 16, 2003
“Beyond Equilibrium”, Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood, CO
“The members of iMiNiMi have taken their penchant for installation …into the much more sanitized confines of the Lakewood Cultural Center. …there, ‘Beyond Equilibrium’ fills the center’s Gallery South with a work that incorporates evidence of mass media, books, film strips, chairs and other objects that tell a tale of an age of information and disinformation.”
Lakewood Sentinel, Tisha Cox, March 4 2002
“Beyond Equilibrium”, Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood, CO
“Sometimes a stick is just a stick. Sometimes it’s not. Trying to decide what is and isn’t is part of ‘Beyond Equilibrium’.”
Topeka Capital-Journal, Bill Blankenship, January 21, 2001
“Open Secret”, iMiNiMi, Manhattan Art Center, Manhattan, Kansas
“…iMiNiMi’s exhibit will challenge some visitor’s notions of art. …Rapp also draws inspiration from science, but at a level elemental to human existence.”
Boulder Daily Planet, Jennifer Heath, April 26, 1999
“Precarious Connections”, Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO
“Four male artists comprise a group calling itself iMiNiMi. Rick Visser, Kent Smith, Roger Rapp and Bug declare that ‘the scent of unknown destinations saturates the receptive surfaces of our work.’ Scent? Now that’s manly. But this iMiNiMi is hardly ‘least’. It’s virile, primal, -Mega-Alpha- insofar as size and materials are concerned. Even Roger Rapp’s “Helix 1”, an acrylic painting, impressionistically rendered, a primordial pink – pink at its most macho. …”Helix 1” is next to a wall of wonderful dancing x’s, wrapped with string and coated in latex. Rapp conveys his thoughts with vague versifying. ‘curious casual connection / link past, present and future / …like wheels within wheels we lie inside ourselves / and where those turns land we must follow.’ There’s that scent thing again.”
Denver Post, Glen Giffin, April 16, 1999
“Precarious Connections”, Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO
“…Roger Rapp who, is inspired by science, takes genes for a model for his creations. “Genome #3” is built of flexible conduit (used by electricians), burlap wrapping heavily painted and, a witty ingredient, door keys. …The quartet of artists who call themselves IMINIMI (taken from iminimi - "the leasts'' …represent four highly distinctive views of the world and their importance in it. …it is provocative, thoughtful and daring.”
Longmont Times Call, Daniel Zantzinger, April 1999
“Precarious Connections”, Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO
“It explores connections among the participating artists; with others, the Earth and animals; and between body and mind. The artist’s differing perspectives and aesthetics offer richly textured contrasts and suggest endless departures, crossings and memories. The result is a strong and thought-provoking experience for the viewer. ...Roger Rapp’s mixed-media sculptures and traditional paintings use the patterns of genetic material as inspiration for the work.”
Aspen Times, Carrie Click, October 5, 1996
“Talking to the Stars”, Red Brick Gallery, Aspen, CO
“…bold acrylic paintings of the moon and stars. …His interest in primitive petroglyphs and pre-Columbian architecture comes through strongly in his work.”
Rocky Mountain News, Mary Voelz Chandler, April 28, 1995
“As I Float Down This Swift Stream”, Edge Underground, Denver, CO
“Downstairs, Roger Rapp mixes a sawdust covered floor, mini-tipi, chugging music and frenetic paintings for the installation ‘As I Float Down This Swift Stream’. This piece cries out for its own basement.”
Westword, Nancy Clegg, April 4, 1990
“Hard Core”, Core New Art Space, Denver, CO
“Another good-natured entry comes from Roger Rapp. His ‘Picasso Photo Opportunity’ is a decent imitation of one of Pablo’s more graphic nudes, complete with a cutaway face so you can stand behind the piece, position your own mug, and have your picture taken as a garishly bright, cavorting, naked woman – which beats running around catching a cold in your own birthday suit.”
Cleveland Press, Elizabeth McClelland, September 29, 1981
“Structure/Discovery”, John Carroll University, University Heights, OH
“The exhibition suggests to me that Rapp wants to communicate on a plane where knowledge accumulated has been from a visual level. His paintings and sculptures succeed in this because there is something familiar about them that starts the mind turning to make associations. …The meanings of them are signs, formulas and codes that we can’t quite remember but we know are of great mysterious importance.”
Buffalo Evening News, Anthony Bannon, May 20, 1977
“Master Thesis Show”, AC Gallery, Essex Street, Buffalo, NY
“Harmonies, balances, symmetries, opposites – man’s penchant for order is given homage …the order of art is a deceiving order. The eye first enticed by a restful arrangement and then, once caught, is made to discover a rich variety within the construction, which gives the object its unique properties. Sculptor Roger Rapp at Artists Committee Gallery through May 30 presents a fascinating series of counterbalances. In the courtyard, a construction of metal tubes and connecting wire bends like a fence caught in a contrary wind, imitating along a horizontal ground plane the natural curves of a Mobius strip or the beginnings of a DNA helix. With handmade paper, acrylic on canvas and with concrete blocks and steel rods, Rapp creates other occasions for apparent order. The pleasure of the work, though, is in the discovery of its rule breaking aspects.”
Buffalo Evening News, Richard Huntington, July 1, 1987
“Spaces/Hallwalls - Artists Exchange”, Hallwalls Gallery, Buffalo, NY
“Roger Rapp’s painting world is thick with veiled references and unexplained emblems. His heavily worked semi-abstractions suggest dark interiors filled with portent.”
Kenmore Times, Brenda Preisner, September 1, 1976
“Summer Space V”, AC Gallery, Buffalo, NY
“Complimenting this piece beautifully is Roger Rapp’s ‘#2’. Constructed of metal tubing, it too makes use of triangles as they merge and emerge within each other. Whether intentional or not, the fabrication of the piece seems to become a focal point - the way the rods attach to one another, how its bolted into the floor, the way the restraining wires meet in the center to maintain the work’s rigidity. Were made very much aware of them all. Inside the gallery another complication of triangles of steel rods is suspended from the ceiling. Rapp works comfortably with these shapes, yet fails to generate the same interest with this piece as in the one outdoors.”
Kenmore Times, Brenda Preisner, April 14, 1975
“Nine Men”, Butler Library, SUNY College @ Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
“A contrasting use of steel rods is apparent in the works of Roger Rapp.... Rapp’s steel triangles of vaguely creased clear plastic give a clear sense of open and enclosed space.”