About
Background
Roger Kotoske was an American painter, sculptor, and educator. He is best known for his hard edge geometric paintings and poyester resin sculptures. He was a pivotal force in the Denver Vanguard Art Scene in the 1960s. He was a pioneer in the use of fiberglass to create modular wall reliefs and in the use of rubber molds to cast resin sculptures. He earned his BFA and MA degrees from the University of Denver and then became one of the youngest members of the faculty, teaching there from 1958 to 1968. In 1968, Kotoske joined the faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, as the Chair of the Visual Design Department. He taught art and design for thirty years, retiring as professor emeritus in 1997. While teaching, he still exhibited regionally and nationally. He was represented by the James Yu Gallery in New York in the mid 1970s. After his retirement from teaching, he continued to paint and exhibit, until his death in 2010.
Sculpture
Kotoske's use of polyester resin as a medium for sculpture was an outgrowth of his early experiments with fiberglass on his paintings on canvas and wood. By 1965 he had created fiberglass wall reliefs and modular arrangements, as well as three-dimensional "crystals" mounted on steel stands. By 1968, he was casting solid, translucent, colored resins forms, which were initially geometric and, later, biomorphic. His pioneering use of silicone rubber molds in the casting process was recognized in two books on mold-making. He experimented with sequential layering of the resin and manipulating the dyes to create unique sculptural treatments of captured light. Kotoske's experiments were happening at the same time as California sculptors of the so-called Light and Space movement were just beginning to explore the light effects of resin. Kotoske showed with several of these artists at the seminal "Potsdam Plastics" exhibition at the State University College at Potsdam, NY, in 1975. He continued to create, exhibit and sell resin sculptures until 1978, when he developed a sensitivity to the toxic fumes produced in the casting process and was forced to give up the medium, to preserve his health.
Paintings
Kotoske's paintings from the early 1960s pushed artistic boundaries, incorporating fiberglass, metals, bamboo and other materials on to both canvas and plywood supports. The experiments with fiberglass, in particular, led him to a decade when he forsook painting and made resin sculptures exclusively. When he was forced to give up the resins, he began to construct open, three dimensional geometric forms in wood, which he then painted in various colors to emphasize the separate planes and surfaces. Eventually, these planes collapsed down to a two-dimensional surface once again, and Kotoske began painting in a hard edge geometric format, that became his signature style. Over the decades, and particularly after he retired from teaching, his style evolved to incorporate more obvious brushstrokes and multiple divisions of the canvas, while continuing his rigorous exploration of the theory of color and form.
Gallery
