Rm Cimini

RitaMarie was born in Providence RI and studied painting at Worcester Art Museum School before attending Bennington College, where she studied with Pat Adams and Phillip Woffard and received an MFA in painting and sculpture. Initially drawn to color field painting, her exposure to the remnants of strict formalism at Bennington caused her to begin exploring figure/ground relationships and the inclusion of cues from the outer world. She began thinking of how abstraction could hold meanings and act metaphorically. She sought ways to engage her viewers who might otherwise pass over color field work as pretty decorations.
Moving to NYC her painting continued this shift including more referential markers. She pushed her painting into a realm between landscape and abstraction. The abstract use of color creates an experience of light and place, the color and the light act as phenomena in the painting.
At this time she began to practice meditation and began to think of art as a spiritual expression and her paintings as an extension of meditative work. She strove to express in her paintings, the lessons of spiritual growth and the internal events which we all experience, which change and shape us.
In the past few years she has begun to...

1980 MFA Bennington College Bennington VT (Painting/Sculpture0
1975- 1977 Worcester Art Museum School
1975 BS Providence College

Solo Exhibits
2019
The Gallery at Grover House “The Transcendence of Light” Caldwell, NJ
2018
Creativity Caravan, “Gazing” Montclair, NJ
2017
artDEVONS “New Beginnings” Caldwell, NJ
2016
The Gallery at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, “Continuing” Livingston, NJ 2015
The Gallery at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, “Journey” Montclair, NJ Harvest Cafe, (curator -Todd Lambrix) High Bridge, NJ
2014
BrassWorks Gallery “Looking Forward, Looking Back” Montclair, NJ
2010
Park Lane Gallery Chatham, NJ
2008
Private Viewing at The Dow residence West Caldwell, NJ
2007
Virginia S Block Gallery Montclair, NJ
1986
Around the Clock Gallery NYC
1983
Humanities Gallery, LIU Brooklyn, NY
1980
Burgdorff Gallery, Southern Vermont College Bennington, VT
1979
Johnson College Johnson, VT
1977
Stone Soup Gallery Boston, MA
1976
The Struck Gallery Worcester, MA
Selected Curated/Juried Exhibitions
2019
Studio Montclair Gallery, “Good Works” Montclair, NJ
Studio Montclair Gallery, “State of the Art 2019” Montclair, NJ
2018
Belskie Museum “Shared Visions” (curator-Gina Murray) Closter, NJ
Studio Montclair Gallery, “Good Works” Montclair, NJ
Studio Montclair Gallery, “Art Lotto” Montclair, NJ
MANA COntemporary, “Families Belong Together” (curator-Asha Gapnat) ...