Methodical in his approach to painting, Robert Sagerman applies between 1,500 and 50,000 or more marks of hand mixed oil paint to a single completed piece. His lush paintings are comprised of thousands of dabs of oil paint applied individually with a palette knife. This repetitive activity of building  saturated colors over and alongside one another over a period of time produces paintings that are fresh and visually engaging.  Recorded in the title of each painting is the number of strokes of color applied.  The artist’s decision to make paintings in this way, and to keep a record of the repetitive processes, gives insight into the conceptual and philosophical intention of this work. With various compositions of pigments, each work is a color field of intense texture and depth that can expand inches off of its canvas surface. Robert Sagerman was born in Queens NY and currently lives and works in Jersey City, NJ. He received his BFA (1990) and MFA (1998) from Pratt Institute. He also holds an MS in Art History from Pratt Institute as well as an MA in Religious Studies and a PHD in Hebrew and Judaic Studies from New York University.

Sagerman’s work has been reviewed by Art in America, NY Arts Magazine, Kunstforum International, Art News and the Atlanta Journal Constitution among many others. He is in the public collections of the Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR) and The Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum (Hagen, Germany.)
_____ 

Born 1966 in Queens, New York
Lives and works in Jersey City, New Jersey


EDUCATION

2008
PHD, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University

2000
MA, Religious Studies, New York University

1998
MFA, Painting, Pratt Institute, New York
MS, Art History, Pratt Institute, New York

1990
BFA, Pratt Institute, New York


SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2014
Far Closer, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Object Painting; Painting Object, (with Bill Thompson) Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, Germany

2013 
Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
Openings, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA 

2012 
It’s Time, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Still Without Cessation, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

2011   
Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, Germany
Ermanno Tedschi Gallery, Rome, Italy

2010  
The Number Escapes Me, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2009
On and On: Inquiries into Indeterminacy, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Workings, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Rome and Turin, Italy

2008
Never. Ever., Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Pathways to Presence, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, Germany

2007
Activity, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
dematerializations / interstices / permutations, Brian Gross Fine Art,San Francisco, CA

2006
Recent Paintings, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, Germany
Innumerable Naught Nary, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2005   
Amassing Color, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Marking Time, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

2004
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2003
435, 546 Marks, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY


GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2015
Hot Spots, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2014
Pouring it On, The Herter Gallery, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, MA
Summer Formal, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
E Artists, Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
Fazination FARBE, Kunsthuas Furstenfeldbruck, Germany

2013
New Year 2013, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Living Grey, Mies van der Rohe House, Berlin, Germany
Excavating Layers, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
The Nature of Abstraction, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach CA

2012
20th Anniversary Exhibitiom, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

2011 
World, Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

2010  
Elevazioni e Permutazioni, PaRDeS, Mirano, Italy
Gesture, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
Monochrome II, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, Germany

2009
Pure Paint, Henry Gregg Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Common Ground: Color, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2008
Material Color, Hunterdon County Art Museum, Clinton, NJ
This Just In, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
The Fascination of the Color Red, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich, Germany

2007
Luxe, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
…das viereckige rot?, Galerie Albert Baumgarten, Freiburg, Germany
Farbe, Galerie Huebner, Hamburg, Germany
Surface Impressions, Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY

2006
Don’t Touch, Renate Bender Gallery, Munich
Blue!, Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum Hagen, Germany

2005
Summer Sensation, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
About Paint, Westport Arts Center, Westport, CT
Living Gray, Karl-Ernst Osthaus-Musuem, Hagen, Germany

2004     
Exhibition for World Peace, Gallery Bijitsu-Sekai, Tokyo, Japan
ArtHouse, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Painting as Process: Re-evaluating Painting, La Salle SIA College of the Arts, Singapore
Die Farbe hat Mich II, Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, Germany
Group Exhibtion, M% Gallery, Cleveland, OH
Innovate, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2003
Seeing Red: An International Exhibition of Non-Objective Painting, Part II, Hunter College/Times Square Gallery, New York, NY
Tickled Pink, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2002
Breathing Room, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Blobs, Wiggles, Dots, Webs and Crustallations, The Work Space, New York, NY. Curated by Lucio Pozzi.
Group Exhibition, Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL

2001
Sharon Brant, Robert Sagerman, Don Voisine, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Items from the Permanent Collection, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY

2000
Ducesa Fine Arts, Brooklyn, NY
01.15.00, GAle GAtes, et al, Brooklyn, NY

1999  
Size Matters, GAle GAtes, et al, Brooklyn, NY
Group Exhibition, GAle GAtes, et al., Brooklyn, NY

1998 
The Calculus of Transfiguration, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
Higher Worlds, Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY

1997
Downtown Arts Annual Group Exhibition, New York, NY. Juried by Fereshteh Daftari, Martin Eisenberg and Charlotta Kotik.
Symposium Finalist, New York, NY. Work selected by Michael Brenson, critiqued by Janet Koplos, Donald Kuspit, Peter Schjeldahl and Simon Watson.

1993 
Group Exhibition of Drawings, Alexander Gallery, New York, NY.
Three Young Future Majors, Alexander Gallery, New York, NY.


PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

The Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, Germany
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon


AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

2007
Kerry Weinberg Dissertation Fellowship, Dept. of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University

2006 
Marilyn Cohen Doctoral Dissertation Grant, Foundation for Jewish Culture

2000
MacCracken Fellowship, New York University

1998
Certificate of Excellence, Dept. of Art History, Pratt Institute
Certificate of Academic Excellence, Pratt Institute


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mainly Grey (Hauptsache Grau), exhibition catalog by Michael Fehr, Mies van der Rohe House, Berlin, Germany, 2013.

“Robert Sagerman and the Process of Creation,” by Jaap le Poole, Colorobjects.com, December 2, 2012.

“Interview with Art Miami Director Nick Korniloff,” by Heike Dempster, Miamiartzine.com, November 29, 2013.

“Robert Sagerman at Marcia Wood Gallery,” by Sara Riff, Burnaway.org, October 15, 2013

“Transfer of Meaning: the Momentum of Abstract Painting,” by Claire Lieberman, Art Experience: New York City, Spring, 2012.

“Robert Sagerman: ‘It’s Time,’” by Matthew Hassell, NY Arts, February, 2012.

“Robert Sagerman’s ‘It’s Time’ Exhibition Dazzles,” by Mia Macfarlane, Downtown,          January 16, 2012.

“Tactility as Mysticism; Robert Sagerman at Margaret Thatcher Projects,” by Franklin Einspruch, The New York Sun, January 13, 2012.

“Robert Sagerman’s scrumptious paintings and Claire Lieberman’s piquant sculptures at Marcia Wood Gallery,” by Catherine Fox, ArtCriticATL.com, April 19, 2010.

“Robert Sagerman,” catalog essay by Michael Amy, Turin, 2009.

Material Color, Exhibition catalog, 2009. The Hunterdon County Art Museum, Clinton, NJ.

“What I Saw at Art Basel: Day 1,” Emma Trelles, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, December 5, 2007.

“Scratching the ‘Surface’ and teasing your senses,” by Ariella Budick, Newsday, April 2007.

“Indeterminable Painting: Thoughts on the Work of Robert Sagerman,” catalog essay by Michael Fehr, Munich, 2006.

Review of the exhibition “Living Gray” by Thomas W. Kuhn, Kunstform International, No. 176, June 2005.

Living Gray. Exhibition catalogue, 2005. The Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, Germany.

K-West, April, 2005. Review of the exhibition Living Gray, by Stefanie Stadel.

SF Weekly, May 25, 2005. Review by Sharon Mizota.

Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques, by Vicky Perry, 2005

About Paint, Exhibition catalog, 2005.

Art Festival for World Peace. Exhibition catalog, 2004. Gallery Bijitsu-Sekai, Tokyo, Japan.

“Robert Sagerman at Marcia Wood Gallery,” by Cathy Byrd, Art in America, December 2004.

Cullum, Jerry. “Review,” The Atlanta Journal Constitution, February 1, 2004.

Fox, Catherine. “Review,” The Atlanta Journal Constitution, May 6, 2004.

“The Intricate Precision of the Field The Kabbalistic Mysticism of

Robert Sagerman,” by Mark Daniel Cohen, NY Arts, September 2003.

Seeing Red: An International Exhibition of Non-Objective Painting. Exhibition catalog, 2003. The Karl-Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, Germany.

“Driven to Abstraction,” by Amei Wallach, Art News, November 2003

“The Epistemological Movement in Late 20th Century Art: The Williamsburg Circle,” by Terrence Lindall, NY Arts Magazine, February 2002.

“Ultimo indirizzo Brooklyn,” by Enzo Siciliano, La Repubblica, June 14, 1999.