For more than thirty years, Miami-based artist Karen Rifas has amassed a body of work that endeavors to understand and re-imagine space. Well known for her minimal cord and leaf installations, and precise, methodical line drawings, in 2016, Rifas began a focused exploration into the constructive possibilities of color. Employing densely hued shapes and irregular lines, Rifas creates spaces that oscillate between the two- and three-dimensional. Deceptive Constructions surveys this recent body of work for the artist’s first solo museum exhibition in over 10 years. Through variegated floor and sculptural installations, works on paper, and wood panel, Rifas uses a concise language of richly contrasted color to alter our perception of space.

Karen Rifas (Chicago, b. 1942) lives and works in Miami and is a professor at New World School of the Arts. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at: Emerson Dorsch (2017), Meeting House Gallery (2016), De La Cruz Collection (2010), Pinnacle Gallery, Savannah College of Art and Design (2007), Polk Museum of Art (2004), and Museo De Arte Comtemporaneo, Panama City (1993).

She has also exhibited in group shows and presented the following projects: Transphysics, Art and Culture Center, Hollywood (2017), 100+ Degrees in the Shade: A Survey of South Florida Art (2015), MIA-BER, Berlin Arts Club (2014), Following the Line, Girls’ Club (2012), I Triennial, Santo Domingo (2010), globe>miami<island, DC Museum of Contemporary Art (2002) and The Bass (2001). Rifas is represented in various permanent collections, including The Bass (Miami Beach), Fairchild Tropical Gardens (Miami), Metro-Dade Art in Public Places Trust (Miami), Museo de Arte de Ponce (Puerto Rico), Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), Perez Art Museum Miami, and Valencia Community College (Orlando).