BEAUTY is a BLAST
: for Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe
Beauty is a Blast at Art Cake gallery in Brooklyn celebrates the influence and artistic legacy of Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe through a vibrant collection of works by his friends and students.The exhibition brings together over 200 pieces that reflect the ripple effect of Gilbert-Rolfe's career as both an artist and mentor.Join us in Brooklyn as we consider Jeremy's contributions to the art world through a constellation of voices and visions.Curator and Organiser Christian Haub.Our heartfelt gratitude goes to Frank and Berta Gehry for their generous support of Beauty is a Blast.Func Art Design have been amazing.Opening 4-7pm, April 6, 2025
through April 27, 2025
Art Cake, 214 40th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe
August 4, 1945 - August 14, 2024
eulogyDad, Grandad, Great-Grandad, husband, teacher, writer, mentor, friend, artist. What a lot of jobs. Dad lived his life in pursuit of beauty and truth through his art. Today, as we lay him to rest among these trees, it feels right that his final home should be such a place of natural beauty.Our relationship wasn't always simple - an ocean between us meant our time together was limited, but the moments we did share helped shape my life. He gave me my first glimpses into how to see the world through an artist's eyes, teaching me that beauty can be found in unexpected places. He taught me that nobody was ever going to give you anything, so if you wanted it, you better go and get it. He taught me that with enough belief, not even an army can stop you, and he taught me that it was just fine for other people to think you were wrong, because they probably just didn't understand the topic on the first place. He taught me those things by being those things, and while I've spent my whole life wishing for more time together, I'm forever grateful for the dad I knew - unique, bold, smart, honest, true, and one of the most creative people there has ever been.I have to say it's nice to be able to talk for this long without being interrupted, but I loved all those stories too, even if I didn't realise it at the time. Dad loved laughing, and we shared a deep love of terrible jokes, that we sent to each other for 50 years, a tradition that I'm delighted to say his other grandchildren H&V have adopted. Traditions are important. I know his spirit didn't die, because I see it in the mirror every morning, and now I see it in the eyes of all of you that are here today. Dad, may you rest peacefully here in this forest, surrounded by the kind of beauty you spent your life creating and sharing with the world. I love you, we all do, and we always will.Cyrus, when we laid Dad to rest, November 2024
Artists, Writers, and Lenders
curator and organizer
CHRISTIAN HAUB
ALICE ADAMS
CARL AFFARIAN
DONALD ALBERTI
ELENA ALEXANDER
ROBERTA ALLEN
DJORDJE ARALICA
HAMED AZIZIANGILAN
JOHN BALDESSARI
AUGUSTO BALLARDO
MATTHEW BARRY
UTA BARTH
ISABELLE BAS
PASCALE BAS
JEFF BEALL
BILL BECKLEY
CONNIE BECKLEY
TIFFANY BELL
TOM BILLS
RONALD BLADEN
NORMAN BLUHM
MARY BOOCHEVER
OLIVIA BOOTH
CAROL ANN BRAUN
MICHAEL BRENNAN
CALVIN BROWN
HOWARD BUCHWALD
CARMEL BUCKLEY
PHONG BUI
LUIS BUSTAMANTE
LUCA BUVOLI
TOM BUTTER
SUE CARLSON
FANDRA CHANG
DON MEE CHOI
REBECCA CHOU
JAMES CLARK
FREDDIE JEN COHEN
JIM CONDRON
MAUREEN CONNOR
CHRIS COOK
HUGH CRAWFORD
TODD CRONAN
PEGGY CYPHERS
LISA CORINNE DAVIS
STEPHEN DEAN
DAVID DIAO
GEARÓID DOLAN
YUKARI EDAMITSU
BONNIE EGAN
LAUREN FEJARANG
MARC FIELDS
COLUMBIA FIERO
THOMAS FINK
TOM FINKELPEARL
KENT FLOETER
PENNY FLORENCE
CAROLYN FORRESTER
ROY FOWLER
LINDA FRANCIS
JOHN FRANKLIN
RUTH ANN FREDENTHAL
ALLEN FURBECK
SHARON GARBE
STEVE GAVENAS
STAN GAZ
FRANK GEHRY
ROLAND GEBHARDT
CRIS GIANAKOS
JEREMY GILBERT-ROLFE
RICHARD GLUCKMAN
MICHAEL GOLDBERG
RON GORCHOV
LUKE GRAY
TIMOTHY GREENFIELD-SANDERS
STEPHEN GUILD
PETER HALLEY
MARK HARRIS
CHRISTIAN HAUB
NANCY HAYNES
JAMES HAYWARD
RENATA HEGYI
HANNA HELLSTEN
DANIEL G HILL
HANS HOFMANN
ROBERT HOOPER
TISHAN HSU
JAMES HYDE
RAYMIE IADEVAIA
LUKE JACKSON
SAM JACKSON
DIANE JACOBS
RON JANOWICH
GABRIELLE JENNINGS
ED JOHNSON
JASPER JOHNS
JOHN JOHNSTON
JOAN JONAS
WENDY EVANS JOSEPH
RICHARD KALINA
EVERETT KANE
SHIRLEY KANEDA
STAN KAPLAN
MARTHE KELLER
MIKE KELLEY
GWENAEL KERLIDOU
MARJORIE KERNAN
RACHEL KESSLER
JULIA KIDD
RICK KLAUBER
HILARY KLIROS
BARBARA KNIGHT
JULIKA LACKNER
LINDA LEVIT
CATHY LIGHTFOOT
MANEL LLEDÓS
JANE LOGEMANN
LAURA LONDON
RORY MACARTHUR
RUSSELL MALTZ
JODIE MANASEVIT
BRICE MARDEN
KNOX MARTIN
MARILYN MARTIN
ALFRED MARTINEZ
TOM MARTINELLI
G A MCALMON III
MIKE METZ
CHRISTOPHER MICHLIG
RIFKA MILDER
VERA MILJKOVIĆ
ROBERT C MORGAN
HOLLY MORSE
ELIZABETH MURRAY
JUDITH MURRAY
MARIA NAZOR
REBECCA NORTON
THOMAS NOZKOWSKI
CANDACE NYCZ
DOUG OHLSON
JEFF OSTERGREN
SAUL OSTROW
LAURA PADDOCK
FABIA PANJARIAN
SOOJUNG PARK
CAROLANNA PARLATO
JEFFREY PEARSON
PAULA PEATROSS
GILBERTO PEREZ
GEORGE PORCARI
LUCIO POZZI
BEN PRITCHARD
STEPHEN PUSEY
PRIYANKA RAM
CIMA RAHMANKHAH
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG
CHARLES READ
SALVATORE REDA
DAVID REED
MICHAEL REY
DAVID RHODES
JEAN-LUC RICHARD
TAKAKO RICHARD
JAMES RICHARDS
LARRY RIVERS
CLAUDIA ROBERTS
WALTER ROBINSON
DOROTHEA ROCKBURNE
JAMES ROSENQUIST
MICHAEL ROUILLARD
DAVID ROW
GREGORY RUKAVINA
MALCOLM RYDER
CORDY RYMAN
ETHAN RYMAN
ROBERT RYMAN
JOOP SANDERS
BARBARA SAVEDOFF
RUDOLPH SERRA
DAVID SHAPIRO
KATE SHEPHERD
RICHARD SHIFF
MARY SCHILIRO
RENA SMALL
DAVID SMITH
REBECCA SMITH
SPENCER SMITH
SUSAN SMITH
EVE SONNEMAN
KELLY SPALDING
NICOLA STÄEGLICH
TED STAMM
CHIP SULLIVAN
DAVID SULLIVAN
SUSANNA TANGER
KEVIN TEARE
ALEXIS TEPLIN
GWENN THOMAS
JULIUS TOBIAS
RICHARD TOBIAS
RYAN TOMCHO
SHIRLEY TSE
KIM UCHIYAMA
ALAN UGLOW
LYNN UMLAUF
ALEXANDER VISCIO
SUSAN KAISER VOGEL
JEAN VONG
MERRILL WAGNER
JOAN WALTEMATH
TOM WEAVER
DAWSON WEBER
LILY WEI
JERRY WELLMAN
THOMAS WEST
MIA WESTERLUND
STEPHEN WESTFALL
HANNAH WILKE
MARK WILLIAMS
ROBERT YASUDA
Art Cake
We are forever grateful to the team at Art Cake for generously providing their beautiful Brooklyn space for this exhibition. Their support has made it possible to bring together this remarkable collection of works and celebrate in such a magnificent setting.Getting Here
214 40th Street Brooklyn, New York 11232
Located on the Brooklyn waterfront 20 min from ManhattanSubway
3 stops from Manhattan, 1 stop from Barclays
DNR train @ 36th StreetNYC Ferry
10 min from Wall Street, 15 min walk from Brooklyn Army TerminalNeighborhood
Industry City is two blocks away, with over 50 restaurants and retail stores and more than 5 acres of landscaped, furnished outdoor spaceHours
Wednesday through Sunday 1-7pm
Contact Us
Please get in touch. Whether you have questions about the exhibition, would like to share your thoughts, or simply want to connect, we'd love to hear from you.
Christian Haub at [email protected]
Beauty is a Blast:
for Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe
Art Cake Gallery, Brooklyn
Open April 6th, 4pm-7pm.The Brooklyn gallery Art Cake and Christian Haub proudly present Beauty is a Blast: For Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe.The group exhibition celebrates the life, work, and far-reaching impact of the artist, teacher, and theorist Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe who died in August 2024. This memorial show brings Gilbert-Rolfe’s work together along with 200 artists whose lives and work were touched by Gilbert-Rolfe's vision, intellect, and mentorship. The exhibition includes diverse voices from established figures ranging from John Baldessari, Joan Jonas, Robert Ryman, Dorothea Rockburne, and David Smith to emerging talents and devoted students.In late 2021, Christian Haub, artist, curator, and close friend of Jeremy's, initially conceived of the exhibition as an intimate celebration and showcase of Jeremy’s work and influence. The project was put on hold. In late 2024, working in partnership with the Art Cake team and Jeremy’s family, the project was revived. Once word of the exhibition got out, the show transformed into an extraordinary and heartfelt celebration of Gilbert-Rolfe’s artistic legacy, influence on contemporary art, and community."Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine 250 artworks hanging on these walls," says Haub. "This exhibition represents an extraordinary outpouring of love and respect for a singular artistic voice. Jeremy's impact on contemporary art extends far beyond his own remarkable body of work - it lives on in the countless artists he inspired and challenged."Beauty is a Blast offers visitors the opportunity to experience the ripple effect of Gilbert-Rolfe's creative legacy. The exhibition creates a visual conversation among hundreds of artists connected through their relationship to Gilbert-Rolfe's ideas and presence. This dialogue extends across generations and artistic approaches, creating a living memorial that celebrates not just what Gilbert-Rolfe created, but what he inspired others to create.Beauty is a Blast includes five separate but related exhibitions:
The group show includes works by 200 artists and a selection of Gilbert-Rolfe’s works going back to 1968.
Gilbert-Rolfe’s books, as well as those of his peers and students, will be represented.
An abbreviated version of Gilbert-Rolfe’s final curatorial project, Painting on Air, is a four-person show with single works by Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe, Christian Haub, Clinton Hill, and Nicola Staeglïch.
A selection of Gilbert-Rolfe’s works on paper, ranging from the 1970s to works created before his death.
There will be a small two-person show by the collaborators, Gilbert-Rolfe and Haub.
About Jeremy Gilbert-RolfeJeremy Gilbert-Rolfe (1945-2024) was an influential artist, critic, and educator whose work and thought helped shape contemporary discourse on abstraction, beauty, and art theory. As a painter, Gilbert-Rolfe was known for his rigorous exploration of color, composition, and the philosophical underpinnings of abstraction. His vibrant canvases demonstrated a masterful understanding of the relationships between form, light, and spatial perception.Born in England, Gilbert-Rolfe moved to the United States in the late 1960s, where he established himself as both a distinctive voice in abstract painting and a formidable art theorist. His writings, including seminal texts such as Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime and Beyond Piety: Critical Essays on the Visual Arts, challenged prevailing artistic orthodoxies and offered nuanced perspectives on aesthetics in contemporary art.As an educator, Gilbert-Rolfe profoundly influenced generations of artists through his teaching positions at prestigious institutions, where his intellectual rigor and passionate advocacy for critical thinking inspired countless students. His legacy lives on not only through his own artistic production and scholarly contributions but through the work of the many artists he mentored throughout his distinguished career.Gilbert-Rolfe's impact on the art world extends far beyond his individual accomplishments, as evidenced by the extraordinary response to this exhibition—a testament to how deeply his ideas and presence resonated across the artistic community.About Christian Haub
Christian Haub has established himself as a significant voice in contemporary abstraction through his innovative exploration of color, light, and form through his radiant Plexiglass Floats and his paintings, exhibiting internationally since 1980. Haub's dedication to the serious play of abstraction reflects a long lineage which includes Édouard Manet, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, James McNeill Whistler, Piet Mondrian, Robert Ryman, and Frank Stella, while maintaining a distinctly personal vision. Haub was born in Miami, Florida. He earned a BA in Art History from Princeton University, and was awarded a Rome Prize in 1983 from the American Academy in Rome.
Float for Gilberto Perez, Christian Haub, 2015
Linda Levit
Embrace
Acrylic on Canvas
18” x 24”
2015
Hamed Aziz
Grey History of Absence/Singularity/Distraction:
A Non-Representational Ekphrasis…
A Dedication to Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe
2024
A Conversation Continues
Jeremy taught us that beauty isn't just pretty—it's provocative. As he'd say, with dry wit and clarity, art demands a response.So, please respond. Be brief or verbose, irreverent or earnest. Share how the show caught you, his critiques sharpened your mind, or his teaching altered your course.This digital corner belongs to all of us whose paths crossed with Jeremy's - students, colleagues, friends, and those still discovering his work. Leave your thoughts here.We will protect these messages, and they will always be here. The dialogue never really ends.