User:Kradell/Sandbox

Renee Radell, over a 50-year career, has proven to be a pioneer among women social commentary artists. Sometimes satirical, sometimes humorous, often tragic, yet always intellectually piercing, her powerful works demonstrate remarkable vitality and are increasingly germane to today’s society.�

Born in Birmingham, Alabama during the Great Depression, Renee Kaupiz moved early in life to Detroit, Michigan. She met her husband, sculptor Lloyd Radell at The Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, now The Center for Creative Studies. During this time numerous regional awards and concurrent press coverage for her watercolors ensued, together with gallery exhibitions and museum purchase awards -- i.e. The Detroit Institute of Art, The Walter P. Chrysler Museum and the Dearborn Museum. In the mid-1960s, Radell emerged in the mainstream gallery scene of New York City. Five one-person shows followed, causing critical acclaim among seasoned art critics. Her skill with the figure conveyed an acute social consciousness and compassion, powerfully incorporating themes of love, death, conflict and regeneration. Arts Magazine commented in 1967, she “expresses a humanism and pathos that is more universal and more moving than the older forms of social commentary.”

In the early 1980s, Radell moved to New York City, where she currently resides, works at her Chelsea studio, and exhibits with dealers and at select art venues. Compared with earlier works, the oeuvre has become more subjective and allegorical through the use of myth and symbolism. Her vision continues to address societal enigmas, most notably in the Morality Plays series first introduced for public view in 1990. Her abundant portfolio includes portraits, still-life and an extensive landscape assemblage from travels domestically and in Europe.