Artist's Statement
My work draws upon the observation, invention and integration of details from the natural and built environment. Mysterious imagery that never wholly existed in nature emerges from this amalgam of sources, inviting the viewer to sift through them like an archeologist.
Each print represents a self-sustaining microcosm, as if seen from ground level, conveying the awe-inspiring stamina and tenacity of nature, which is even more poignant in the urban environment. The elements that I assemble are indigenous, unexotic plants and objects that may also serve as a metaphor for the spirit of these former working-class, industrial neighborhoods that surround me. Castoffs reworked
to transform the common into the precious and evoke the resilience of nature and the human struggle to sustain itself in spite of great obstacles.
Artist's Biography
Richard Hricko is a printmaker whose work presents composite details of the natural and built environment that honor nature, industry, and the course of decay and recovery. Influenced by the tradition of ruins in Italian art, he similarly expresses the passage of time and invokes longing and the pathos of things forgotten, but from a uniquely magnified perspective. He embraces new technologies and experimental approaches to his medium as well as the traditional skills and focus of the master printer. Layering such disparate ideas and techniques, he explores the generative fusion of real and imaginary worlds.
Hricko has exhibited work nationally and internationally in museums and galleries including, International Print Center New York, the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition in New York, Tanks Art Centre in Australia, PH21 Gallery in Budapest, Hungary, and the National Academy Museum in New York. Most recently he won 1st place in Experimental Prints at the 2nd Triennial of Contemporary Graphic Arts at Novosibirsk State Art Museum in Russia. In the mid-2000s he co-founded Crane Arts, where he currently maintains his studio. He also co-founded and serves on the board of Second State Press, a community-based printmaking studio.
Education
1979
Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
MFA, Printmaking
1974
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
BFA, Printmaking and Painting
Select Awards & Honors
2019
1st Place, 30th Annual International Juried Exhibition: Pt. 1, Viridian Artists, New York, NY
Juror’s Award, SAGA 85th Members Print Exhibition, Newark Public Library, Newark, NJ
2018
1st Place Experimental Prints, 2nd Triennial of Contemporary Graphic Arts, Novosibirsk State Art Museum, Russia
Director’s Honorable Mention, Unique: Alternative Processes 2018, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX
Award of Excellence, 2018 International Juried Show, Beacon Gallery, Boston, MA
Jurors Award, The Boston Printmakers 2017 North American Print Biennial, Cambridge, MA
2016
Takatch Press Corporation Award, Beyond the Norm, Normal Editions Workshop, Normal, IL
1st Place, Professional Category, SGCI Members Exchange Portfolio/Exhibition
Honorable Mention Award, Press Play, The Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO
Joint Winner, Art at Wharepuke, Kerikeri, New Zealand
2015
Honorable Mention Award, InPrint-Is Online Exhibition
Honorable Mention Award, Still Life: The Inanimate Subject, MPLS Photo Center, Minneapolis, MN
Select Professional Experience
2019
Lecture, Art Lab Graphicsymposium, Galleri Heike Arndt DK, Kettinge, Denmark
Artist Residency, Galleri Heike Arndt DK, Kettinge, Denmark
2018
Lecture, Print Think Conference, Temple University, Rome, Italy
2017
Artist-in-Residence & Lecture, Art at Wharepuke, Kerikeri, New Zealand
2014
Artist-in-Residence, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
Lecture/Visual Presentation, Graduate Center, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
Workshop, Photopolymer Gravure, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane, Australia
