Carla Rippey

Carla Rippey
“In my drawings or prints, I try to twist images and transform them, voluntarily seeking to go against their original sense and give them a purer sieve”. – Carla Rippey[1]
Born (1950-05-21)May 21, 1950
Scientific career
Fields Visual artist, art teacher

Carla Rippey is a visual artist and the ex-director of The National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving “La Esmeralda.” Although she was born in the US, Rippey is a considered a Mexican feminist artist. Rippey states, “My mother was very literary and my father was a journalist and photographer, so the connection with words and photography (on which most of my work is based) was always there. It wasn't until I went to live in Latin America at the age of 22 that I switched to printmaking (and later, drawing), as writing in English wasn't something I could share with people, living in a Spanish -speaking culture. Titles and metaphoric images have always been important in my work, though. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the intersection of art and politics, so I knew I wanted to do something connected with both. Running an art school is a way to put progressive policies in action in this sense.” [1]

Early life

Carla Rippey was born on May 21, 1950 in Kansas City, Kansas. She is the daughter of James Rippey and Barbara Wright. Her father worked as a newspaperman and photojournalist, and her mother was a scholar of Great Plains Literature and a Ph.D. in English Literature.

Education

Although she drew constantly as a child, as a teenager poetry became her principal means of creative expression. During high school, she visited the Joslyn Art Museum which was located next to her school. TIt was in Joslyn that she encountered prints for the first time.[1] Rippey worked after schoo and saved her earnings which allowed her to travel to Paris when she turned 18. She was in Paris for 5 months studying at Sorbonne. From 1969-1972, Rippey attended college at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. The university had an experimental program that allowed her to create her own study plan; her senior thesis explored the intersection of art and politics.[2]

Rippey spent her last year of college in Boston, studying at the Boston Public Library and working in the women’s movement; she helped to establish a women’s center (http://www.cambridgewomenscenter.org/aboutus.html) and made silkscreen posters for feminist events. She also learned offset printing at the alternative publishing house “The New England Free Press.”

In 1972, during the presidency of Salvador Allende, Rippey traveled to Chile where she married Ricardo Pascoe, a fellow student from Old Westbury. Throughout her adolescence Rippey had considered herself a poet, but finding herself in a Spanish speaking culture motivated her to set writing aside and return to her constant childhood activity of drawing and its variations.[3] She learned printmaking while auditing classes at the University of Chile and the Catholic University of Chile. Together with Pascoe she participated in the leftist political group “Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria” or MIR, once again making silk-screened posters. When Allende fell, circumstances compelled them to leave for Mexico. In the next three years, Rippey and Pascoe became the parents of two children, Luciano and Andrés;[1] Rippey continued her work in printmaking in the collective studio at the “Molino de Santo Domingo” in Mexico City, she also participated in the founding of the literary movement of Infrarrealism and became active in the artists’ collective Peyote & la Compañía, part of the 70’s movement of “Los Grupos”. Rippey and Pascoe separated in 1978. In 1980 Rippey relocated to Jalapa, Veracruz to work as a printmaking teacher at the Veracruz State University. In 1979 Rippey entered into a long-term relationship with the Mexican photographer and artist, Adolfo Patiño, organizer of the “Peyote” collective.

In 2013, Rippey was appointed as the first female director of the historic National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking “La Esmeralda”, a free government university-level art school in Mexico City. During her tenure she worked with the school to help encourage and promote a collaborative model of education, focusing not only on educating the students to be successful artists but also to be creative members of society.[3]

Rippey began exhibiting in group shows in the 70’s 1985, Solo shows include “Cheap Philosophy and Trips to the Pyramids” Carrillo Gil Museum, Mexico City, “. During the 1990s, Rippey’s work was exhibited many times. Her work was primarily shown in exhibitions around Mexico and the U.S. Most of her exhibitions consisted of prints and drawings, including one-person shows in the National Printing Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, and the Museum of Monterrey.[3]

In 2013, Rippey was appointed as the first female director of the historic National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking, La Esmerelda, a government dependent school in Mexico City. She worked with the school to help encourage and promote a “collaborative model of education”.

Career

In 1985, Rippey's first exhibition was displayed at the Carrillo Gil Museum in Mexico City. During the 1990s, Rippey’s work was exhibited few times. Her work was primarily shown in exhibitions around Mexico and the U.S. Most of her exhibitions consisted of prints and drawings, including one-person shows in the National Printing Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, and the Museum of Monterrey.[2]

Rippey began exhibiting in group shows in the 70’s 1985, Solo shows include “Cheap Philosophy and Trips to the Pyramids” Carrillo Gil Museum, Mexico City, “. During the 1990s, Rippey’s work was exhibited many times. Her work was primarily shown in exhibitions around Mexico and the U.S. Most of her exhibitions consisted of prints and drawings, including one-person shows in the National Printing Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, and the Museum of Monterrey.[3]

In 2013, Rippey was appointed as the first female director of the historic National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking, La Esmerelda, a government dependent school in Mexico City. She worked with the school to help encourage and promote a “collaborative model of education”.

Exhibitions and shows

Random facts and personal interview

Rippey and Pascoe are friends with famed author Roberto Bolaño. She was involved in the early stages of the Infrarrealist poets’ group which lead to Bolaño’s book, The Savage Detectives''.[2] Rippey had a short appearance in the book as the artist Catalina O’Hara.[1]

- I asked Rippey, “Do you have an artist that you feel has been an influence on the type of art work that you create?” She said, “When I was young I identified with Mary Cassatt and Käthe Kollwitz. I have always been impressed by Degas. I really identify with the work of the Latvian-born artist Vija Celmins, we share similar themes and ways of working. I would say the artist I find most interesting today is the South African William Kentridge, for the scope of his work, using so many different disciplines, and the way his work connects to social concerns, as well as its quality and innovative nature.”

References

  1. ↑ (Ashley Oertle, personal interview with the artist. Conducted via email on 14 Apr. 2016.)
  2. ↑ Rippey, Carla. "Rippey Rippey: El Uso De La Memoria: Historia Personal."Carla Rippey: El Uso De La Memoria: Historia Personal. N.p., 31 Aug. 2007. Web. 16 Apr. 2016. <http://Carla-rippey.blogspot.mx/search/label/Historia%20Personal>.
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