Robert Rahway Zakanitch Returns for Third Stint as STUDIO-f Visiting Artist

Robert Rahway Zakanitch, one of the founders of the Pattern and Decoration movement in the mid-1970s, will return to The University of Tampa for a third time as the STUDIO-f visiting artist Feb. 20-March 2. The public will have the opportunity to meet Zakanitch and view the monoprints he creates during his time on campus at a reception March 2 at 6 p.m.

Additionally, Zakanitch will share one of five paintings from his famous Big Bungalow Suite along with 20 other paintings from his collection at the The University of Tampa Scarfone/Hartley Gallery beginning Jan. 30. The exhibition and completed STUDIO-f monoprints will be on view through March 8.

Born in Elizabeth, NJ in 1935, Zakanitch studied at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art in Newark, NJ, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1958. He began exhibiting his work in New York City in 1965, but first achieved real notice in 1976 as a Pattern and Decoration artist.

Zakanitch views his work as positive, saying, “I don’t want any dehumanization in my work. I am more interested in planting the seeds of healing and civility.”

He began the Big Bungalow Suite, a series of five paintings measuring 11’ x 30’, in 1990. The series took four years to complete and have been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. Zakanitch’s works are in major collections throughout the world, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., the Musee de Strasbourg in France and the Rothschild Bank in Switzerland.

Zakanitch previously served as the STUDIO-f visiting artist in 1991 and again in 2002.

The gallery is located on campus at the R. K. Bailey Art Studios at 310 N. Blvd. Gallery hours are 10 to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. There is no charge for admission. For more information contact Dorothy Cowden, gallery director, at dcowden@ut.edu or (813) 253-6217.