ALAN SOFFER
2 Blackthorn RdWallingford, PA 19086 [email protected]
Born: Philadelphia, PA
Painting the reality of the mind in wax, oil, and acrylicAbstract Expressionist Painter
Co-director and teacher ART INCUBATOR WORKSHOPS
occasional juror
occasional curator
Working In: encaustics, oil, acrylic
Museum & Corporate collections:
- Sulmainy Museum, Kurdistan
- Museum de Montbelliard, France
- Rosenbaum Foundation, NY & Jerusalem
- American Express, FL
- Eaton Corp., OH
Books:
| Upon Thy Doorposts | Belle Rosenbaum | one page, color plates | 1993 |
| New American Paintings | Steve Zevitas | four pages, color plates/bio | 1999 |
| I NEVER OWNED A LAWNMOWER | LULU Press | autobiography 99 pgs | 2014 |
| Encaustics in the Twenty First Century | four pages, color prints | 2016 |
Periodicals:
| Encaustic Magazine | 2020 | ten pages, Personal Profile | Alan Soffer |
| Blue Streak exhibition | 2019 | Soffer& Beach | Dr. Mary Holihan |
| Point Counter-Point | 2018 | one page, Stephanie Buhmann | |
| VillanovaPress | 2014 | Forty year Retrospective | Staff |
| Town Talk Newspapers | 2013 | one page, Fifth Art Show together | Reisa Mukameil |
| Swarthmorean | 2013 | one page, Art Couple | Reisa Mukameil |
| A Walk Into Abstracts, vol 4 | 2012 | two pages, Color Plate and Process | Sue St.Johns |
| Arts & Antiques | 2007 | one page | Sakiko |
| Art Matters | Sept. 2004 | one page, Pulling Canvas | Wanda Walls |
| Art Matters | March 2003 | two pages, Parallel Lives, Perpendicular Styles | Buzz Miller |
| Style Magazine | March/April 2001 | two pages, The Dark Continent | Dr. Lori Verderame |
| Doylestown Patriot | Jan 2001 | two pages Artmobile Tour | John Gatti |
| CountyCalendar | Sept. 1995 | one page, The Chester County Art Association | staff |
| Pennsylvania Dental Journal | May/June 1994 | two pages, Curious Narratives | Dr. R. Galeone |
| Art Matters | Dec 1993 | one page, Doctors as Artists | Diana Myers-Bennet Roberts |
| Art Matters | April 1992 | one page, Evoking Origins | Carolyn Roland |
| ADA News | March 1989 | one page, Pennsylvanian Seeks Heroes of Dentistry | Stacy Fisch |
| Art Matters | Feb 1988 | one page, More Reviews | Joy Gasta |
| Jewish Exponent | May 1985 | one page, Elemental Threads | staff |
| Inside Magazine | Winter 1985 | one page, The Beauty of Holiness | Sissy Carpey |
| Textile Arts Society | Vol II no. 23 | one page, National Museum of American Jewish History |
Awards:
| 1. CAC | clay sculpture | 1987 |
| 2. Jane Law Gallery | watercolor | 1995 |
| 3. Photography Open | color print | 1997 |
| 4. Printmaking '98 | collaged monotype | 1998 |
| 5. Images '98 | collaged painting | 1998 |
| 6. Small Works/ Big Ideas | painting | 2001 |
| 7. Members show/ MLAC | painting | 2002 |
| 8. In Person/ CAC | encaustic painting | 2004 |
| 9. Best of Scottsdale | contemporary painting | 2005 |
| 10. Extravaganza in Red,CCAA | encaustic painting | 2010 |
| 11. Lyceum, NJ | encaustic painting | 2012 |
| 12. Goggleworks, Reading, PA | encaustic painting | 2012 |
| 13. Wayne Art Center, PA | encaustic painting | 2014 |
| 14. Community Art Center, Wallingford, Pa | ink, acrylic painting | 2017 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS:
Alan Soffer Blue Streak Gallery Wilmington DE 2023
| VARIATIONS (cancelled due to pandemic) | CotuitArt Center | Cotuit | MA | 2020 |
| Alan Soffer | Chester County Art Assoc. | West Chester | PA | 2020 |
| Solo | GreenvilleCountry Club | Greenville | DE | 2020 |
| TO BE OR NOT TO BE | Main Line Unitarian Church | Wayne | PA | 2019 |
| Point Counter-Point (3 person) | Delaware Art Museum | Wilmington | DE | 2018 |
| SHAKEN & STIRRED (2 person) | Cape Cod Cultural ctr | S. Yarmouth | Ma | 2018 |
| PHANTASMAGORIA | Blue Streak Gallery | Wilmington | DE | 2018 |
| "MASTER OF ABSTRACTION" | Church Street Gallery | West Chester | PA | 2016 |
| 40 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE | Villanova U. | Villanova | PA | 2014 |
| ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONS | ADM Gallery | Newtown Square | PA | 2013 |
| DREAMING, drawing with wax | West Chester U. | West Chester | PA | 2013 |
| SOFFER SURVEY | Forms Gallery | Delray Beach | FL | 2012 |
| BEST OF SOFFER | Gander Gallery | Manchester Ctr | VT | 2012 |
| NOW | Pippin Contemporary | Santa Fe | NM | 2011 |
| RIGHT SIDE/ LEFT SIDE | OCJAC | Philadelphia | PA | 2011 |
| GEOSCAPES | Rosenfeld Gallery | Philadelphia | PA | 2009 |
| RINCON & BEYOND | Central Pennsylvania College | Harrisburg | PA | 2009 |
| ALL MY LIFE'S A CIRCLE | Rosenfeld Gallery | Philadelphia | PA | 2007 |
| CIRCLE OF LIFE | Gallery Sakiko New York | New York | NY | 2007 |
| ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONS | Robert Roman Gallery | Scottsdale | AZ | 2006 |
| INFUSION | Rosenfeld Gallery | Philadelphia | PA | 2005 |
| FUSION/ INFUSION | Robert Roman Gallery | Scottsdale | AZ | 2005 |
| OSMOSIS | Chester County Art Assoc | West Chester | PA | 2005 |
| ABSTRACT IMPRESSIONS | Southern Exposure Gallery | N. Palm Beach | FL | 2004 |
| SAN MIGUEL SUITE | Atlantic City Art Center | Atlantic City | NJ | 2003 |
| PROGRESSION | Widener University Gallery | Chester | PA | 2003 |
| CHROMA | Parallels Gallery | Philadelphia | PA | 2002 |
| TOWARD THE SUBLIME | Southern Exposure Gallery | W. Palm Beach | FL | 2000 |
| DECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE LIFE CYCLE | Hoyt Institute | New Castle | PA | 2000 |
| ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONS | Artjaz Gallery | Philadelphia | PA | 2000 |
| MAKING IT UPG | Brown Art Gallery | Baltimore | MD | 1999 |
| NEW WORK | Artist's House | Philadelphia | PA | 1998 |
| DECONSTRUCTIONS | Fulton Bert Gallery | Sarasota | FL | 1997 |
| CONCERNING CREATION | Chester County Art Assoc | West Chester | PA | 1995 |
| CURIOUS NARRATIVES | The Borowsky Gallery | Philadelphia | PA | 1994 |
| BABYLON REVISITED | Nexus Resource Room | Philadelphia | PA | 1992 |
| EVOKING ORIGINS | Del. Ctr. Contemporary Art | Wilmington | DEL | 1992 |
| SUMMER SELECTIONS | Larsen Dulman Gallery | New Hope | PA | 1989 |
| ONE + ONE + ONE | Community Art Center | Wallingford | PA | 1988 |
| ELEMENTAL THREADS | Natl. Museum Amer. Jewish History | Philadelphia | PA | 1985 |
GROUP SHOWS: Juried & Invitational
3 person show Blue Streak Gallery 2023
JURIED show: Figurative art, MCCC, 2022
INVITATIONAL: Washington DC 2022
JURIEDshow: Cheltenham Art center 2020
MERCHANDISE AND DESIGN Bridgehampton Museum Bridgehampton NY 2019
JURIED SHOWCheltenham Art Center Cheltenham PA
BEST PRACTICES Miller White Gallery S. Dennis MA 2018
RESIST & RECOVER Kyo Gallery Alexandria VA
JURIED SHOW Wallingford Art Ctr Wallingford PA
ARTISTS EQUITY West Chester University West Chester PA
WORKS ON PAPER LBI Foundation Loveladies NJ
EXHIBITION 280 Huntington Museum Huntington WV
JURIED SHOW West Windsor Art Center Princeton NJ 2017
LA ART FAIR Sergott Contemporary Rancho Santa Fe CA
NASTY WOMEN MLUC Devon PA
PATTERNS CAC Wallingford PA
TRANSCENDENCE Miller White Gallery S. Dennis Ma
GALLERY ARTISTS Bazemore Gallery Manayunk PA 2016
SAVING GAIA Miller White gallery S. Dennis MA
ARTISTS ESQUITY West Chester U. West Chester PA
ART OF THE STATE State Museum Harrisburg PA 2015
ANNUAL JURIED SHOW CAC Wallingford PA
JURIED SHOW Wayne Art Center Wayne PA 2014
Juried* GOGGLEWORKS,Reading,PA 2013
Artists Equity WIDENER U.,Chester, PA 2013
CENTENNIAL, DEL ART MUSEUM,Wilmington, DEL 2012
Creative Alliance, Hill Top School, Rosemont, PA 2012
JURIED,Lyceum,Burlington,NJ 2012
What's thisJourney about 2012
PIPPIN CONTEMPORARY, SantaFe,NM 2012
OPEN BWAC Brooklyn,NY 2012
RED, PENN STATE U.,Malvern, PA 2012
INVITATIONAL CCAA, West Chester,PA 2012
GALLERY, Delray Beach,FL 2012
Group, OWL 57 GALLERY, Cedarhurst,NY 2012
BEYOND ABSTRACTION, CFEVA, Philadelphia, PA, 2011
ARTIST'S EQUITY, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA 2011
GRAND OPENING, Pippin Comtemporary, Santa Fe,NM 2011
Death Salon des Amis, Malvern, PA 2011
COUPLES LBI FOUNDATION, Loveladies, NJ 2011
Erotica Salon des Amis, Malvern PA 2011
Beyond Limits: OCJAC Phila PA 2011
ENCAUSTICS Art Trust West Chester PA 2011
Holiday Show Rosenfeld Gallery Philadelphia PA 2010
EXTRAVAGANZA IN RED* CCAA West ChesterPA 2010
ART IN A BOX Cheryl Pelavin Gallery NYC NY 2010
Dear Fleisher Fleisher Art Memorial Phila., PA 2010
New Work; Diving CatGallery Phoenixville, PA 2009
WINTER SALON Gallery Sakiko-NY New York, NY 2008
Group: American Contemp. Gallery Annapolis, MD 2008
SECUNDA & FRIENDS*
Museum de Montbeliard Montbeliard , FRANCE 2008
SMALL WORKS Rosenfeld GalleryPhiladelphia, PA 2008
60 by 60 Duke Gallery Wallingford PA 2008
ANNUAL ROSENFELD GALLERY PhiladelphiaPA 2007
WAXING PHILOSOPHIC-5
Wired Gallery Bethlehem PA 2007
TOUCHING THE VOID-5
ATLANTIC CITY ART CENTERAtlantic City,NJ 2007
GroupZENITH GALLERY Washington DC 2007
Group HANDSEL GALLERY Santa Fe NM 2007
Something Special Gallery Bellaria, Bryn Mawr PA 2007
WORKS ON PAPER
Main Line Art Center Bryn Mawr, PA 2007
ART x 12+WIDENER UNIVERSITYChester PA 2007
IN PERSON* CAC GalleryWallingford PA 2006
ABSTRACTION-4 PERSON
CREATION ART GALLERYJuno BeachFL 2006
OIL + WAX
ROBERT ROMAN GALLERY Scottsdale, AZ 2006
HOT WAX and COOL ARTISTS
HAYDON ART CENTER, Lincoln, NE 2006
CANVASSING THE COAST
BMS Gallery Princeton NJ 2005
OIL + WAX Siano GalleryPhiladelphiaPA 2005
SMALL WORKS Rosenfeld Gallery Phila., PA 2005
OIL + WAX RIVER TREE ARTS, Kennebunk MA 2005
INAUGARAL Creation Art Gallery Juno Beach, Fl 2005
IN PERSON CAC Gallery WallingfordPA 2005
OIL + WAX N. Cal. Arts League Novato, CA 2005
THE GESTURE-Movement & Color
Robert Roman Gallery Scottsdale, AZ 2004
Summer Show
Garrubbo Bazan Gallery West Chester PA 2004
Gallery Artists ARTJAZ GALLERY Phila., PA 2004
TOXIC LANDSCAPES
LBI Foundation Loveladies NJ 2004
Abstract Exhibition CCAA West Chester, PA 2004
IN PERSON* CAC WallingfordPA 2004
Group POSH GALLERY Media PA 2003
SNAPSHOT
ALDRICH MUSEUM Ridgefield CONN 2002
REFLECT & RESPOND KRASDALE NYC NY 2002
Multi-Media Ex
JOSE MARTI LIBRARY Havana CUBA 2002
Group PARALLELS GALLERY PhilaPA 2002
JURIED SHOW PAFA Phila, PA 2002
WORKS ON PAPER Sketch Club PhilaPA 2002
62ND ANNUAL EXHIBITION
WOODMERE MUSEUM. Chestnut HillPA 2002
REFLECT & RESPOND
BURLINGTON COLLEGE Mount Holly NJ 2002
FACULTY SHOW CAC Wallingford, PA 2002
Artie Partie DCCA Wilmington DEL 2001
ART OF THE STATE
STATE MUSEUM OF PA. Harrisburgh PA 2001
TOXIC LANDSCAPES
CHATAM COLLEGE Pittsburgh PA 2001
ACTS OF KINDNESS
DREXEL UNIVERSITY PhilaPA 2001
SNAPSHOT ARCADIA COLLEGE, Jenkintown PA 2001
Urban Blight
Open Space Gallery Allentown PA 2000
PAISAGES TOXICOS
Centerfold GALLERY Lawtron OKLA 2000
ELEPHANT ART DaVinci Art Alliance, Phila PA 2000
SNAPSHOT ICA, Baltimore, MD 2000
GRITTY CITY, BOROWSKY GALLERY Phila, PA 1999
NEW AMERICAN PAINTINGS
Open Studios Press Wellesley MA 1999
IMAGE '98 * HUB GALLERIES State College PA 1998
Summer Exhibition PAFA PhilaPA 1997
FIN de SIECLE DCCAWilmington, DEL 1997
FIN de SIECLE
DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY Dover, DEL 1997
Downtown Installations
BERKSHIRE CAC North Adams MA 1997
Tiny Works PROJECTS GALLERY, Wichata KS 1997
Large Dimension, ART RESOURCES St. Paul, MN 1997
PRINTWORK '96
BARRET HOUSE Phoughepsie NY 1996
Exhibition YORK COLLEGE York PA 1995
ACROSS BORDERS/SIN FRONTERAS
ART MUSEUM OF AMERICAS Washington DC 1994
RIENKS MEMORIAL: COMPETITION
Gallery West Alexandria VA 1994
Self Portraits DCCA Wilmington DEL 1994
ARGENTINA INVITATIONAL Museo, Estudios Historicos Odontalgia
BUENOS AIRES 1994
A PRIVATE SCREENING
ERGANE GALLERYNew York, NY 1994
Juried ShowAbington Art Center Jenkintown PA 1992
ART AT THE ARMORY
33RD St Armory Phila, PA 1992 & 1990
AMERICAN, EUROPEAN/FOLK ART
City Hall Phila, PA 1989
Artwest Art Center Jackson Hole WY 1988
NATIONAL PAPER/ CLAY
MEMPHIS STATE UNIVERSITY Memphis,TN 1988
Group Clay Show
SANDE WEBSTER GALLERY Philadelplhia PA 1988
Folk Festival U.of PENNSYLVANIA
PhilaPA 1981
JEWISH RITUAL ART
BALCH INSTITUE Phila PA 1979
TEACHING & WORKSHOPS :
ENCAUSTIC PAINTING:
Main Line Art Center, PA
CCAA West Chester, PA
CAC Wallingford, PA
LBI Foundation, NJ
Tempe Center, AZ
Soffer Studio, PA
West Windsor Art Center, NJ
ABSTRACT PAINTING:
ART INCUBATOR, Santa Fe, NM
Haverford College, Krinski program, PA
Painting for the 21st Century, Jamaica
The Creative Center, NYC
Soffer Studio, Wallingford, PA
TAP, Chester, PA
BOCA ART MUSEUM School
Casa de los Artistas, Puerto Vallarta
Lee County Art Center, Fort Myers, FL
GOGGLEWORKS, Reading PA
CURATORIAL:
CAC, Wallingford, PA
Siano Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
River Tree Arts, Kennebunk, ME
Northern Cal. Arts, Novato, CA
Robert Roman Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Waxing Philosophic: Wired Gallery, Bethlehem, PA
BIOGRAPHY:
Alan Soffer has been making art since 1973 in a variety of modalities. Originally, he was known for ceramic sculpture, particularly, religious ritual objects and later for work about ancient healing , deconstruction, and fragmented imagery. His work as teacher and curator continues to augment his primary passion for abstract expressionist painting which began in 1985.
His studies in sculpture and painting include Arrowmont School in Tenn., 1981 with Lew Snyder; State U of New York, Oswego with Richard Zakin; Parsons School of Design with Andrea Gill, 1983; Bennington College with Sandy Slone; Corcoran Museum School of Art with Paul Soldner, Peters Valley Art Center 1986 with Bennett Bean; Penna. Academy of Fine Arts, 1988, 1996, 1999; Ringling School of Design; to name a few.
The work is clearly influenced by abstract expressionists of the past century and others, such as, Rauschenberg, Rivers, Frankenthaler, Motherwell, Chagall, Dubuffet, Keifer, Mondrian, and Polke. The body of work that defined Soffer in the early nineties was about ancient healing. The current emphasis on encaustics is a perfect marriage of his two loves- sculpture and painting.<
The other major direction of his work in the nineties was 'the life cycle', which was inspired through the teachings of Joseph Campbell. This work includes extensive treatment of creation theories, life and deconstruction, and finally rebirth. These subjects required research into science, primitive cultures and the ancient world of medicine and dentistry, before, digesting and expressing the most salient features visually. Soffer continues to find Campbell to be his most important mentor. The life cycle continues with his work in 2015, titled LIFE & DEATH.
Soffer's exhibitions have traveled throughout the US, Argentina, Cuba, Kurdistan. Significant exhibitions have been at Widener University, Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, National Museum of American Jewish History, Hoyt Institute, Atlantic City Art Center, Sande Webster Gallery, York College, Penn State College, Penna. Academy of Fine Arts, the Print Center, Parallels Gallery, State Museum of Penna., Rosenfeld Gallery, Robert Roman Gallery, and Pippin Contemporary.
His use of encaustics began in 1998 and continues to be an integral feature of his oeuvre. Reduction and distillation both buries and exposes bits of his images and sentiments infused in the multilayered paintings. Soffer's use of this ancient technique of hot pigmented wax, through its inherent translucency, supports his vocabulary for expressing space. Space, from the microscopic to the galactic, is a frequent theme.
In 2005 he organized the first national conference on encaustics in the US and possibly in the world. Concurrently, he curated a survey of some of the best people doing this work at the time, which traveled accross the United states to venues in Philadelphia, Kennebunkport, Scottsdale, and Novotno, California. This was instrumental in helping to push this artistic approach to the level it has achieved to date.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soffer agrees with Carter Ratcliff's point of view, when he said, "It's a mistake to take the artist's statements at face value. These statements are products of the imagination and so need to be interpreted along with the art." With that idea in mind, the following remarks by four art critics are included.
VICTORIA DONOHUE / PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER [2003, Widener University]
"Soffer is a serious artist with a truly poetic gift for making his paintings coalesce into visions of quite remarkable beauty. He is a colorist and very versatile in this; he uses color exuberantly and paints seemingly with abandon, yet his results are nonetheless strongly rhythmic. Such paintings project an engaging physicality, even though they rely on swift effects to declare their presence as the shapes move back and forth between realistic portrayals of the human figure and abstraction- with the accent on abstraction."
R.B. STRAUSS / METRO PAPER [2002 Parallels Gallery]
"Layers of color lend his art a sense of depth while the choreography of his brushwork yields a dynamic flow from one painting to the next. This sense of traveling into uncharted territory is what makes his work so unique."
ANNE FABBRI / STYLE MAGAZINE [LBI Foundation]
"Highlights of the show created by the Puffin Foundation (Toxic Landscapes) include three haunting Soffer paintings that depict environments within the lifecycle. He finishes the surface with pencil, paint photographs in these mixed media drawings and collages."
JANET PURCELL / THE TIMES [Canvassing the Coast, Bristol Myers Squibb gallery]
"Soffer reaches down into his memories, in the manner of abstract expressionism. Symbolistic strokes fly around on the surface and drama is in every stroke."