Rick Chapman
Rick Chapman
Circle Series
About
Rick Chapman’s bold visual sensibility makes it easy to see the threads connecting his HUMAN portraiture and his CIRCLE, TREE and ISOLATE series. A careful sense of design, intimacy, and texture emanates from all of Chapman’s images.
His portraits strive to explore that which ties us all together as humans, the essence of what is common to all of us. There is no formula for this. From Chapman’s perspective, the most successful portraits result from an intense two-way dialogue where something vital and universal is expressed and recorded. His best images reveal the energy of this rich mutual exchange. What is it that we see in his celebrity portraits that we may also see in his portrayal of a drifter or a portrait of his brother? Composure, self-reflection and connection are all present, no matter how brief. Humanity’s common ground is at the heart of Rick Chapman’s portraiture.
Chapman’s obsession with searching the shores of oceans, lakes, rivers and creeks for spherical rocks viscerally fuels his interest in the universal truths symbolically held within their perfect shape. Researching circle themes found in religious iconography, architectural theory and nature’s systems inspired the creation of his series, CIRCLE, 25 years ago. Chapman studies what is remarkable about the mundane circles and spheres he encounters in everyday life. He explores the universal truths they represent, whether the objects are found in urban centers or rural landscapes. Sizing every printed circle to the same diameter, they become virtual letters of a lost alphabet, communicating a language that transcends the original objects.
Rick Chapman’s work is held in many collections throughout the United States, including the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the LA County Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, George Eastman House, and the private collection of Sir Elton John.
Chapman is represented by Dolby Chadwick in San Francisco and ClampArt Gallery in New York. Commercial clients include ESPN, Chevrolet, the National Football League, and ABC. Commercial, editorial, and commissioned portraiture can be booked directly thru his studio.
