RODNEY ALAN GREENBLAT
Rodney Alan Greenblat is world famous 3-D construction artist for his whimsical and engaging artwork. At the age of three he began drawing and painting, and his big break came in 1971, when at the age of 11 he was given the opportunity to illustrate the cover of his elementary school parent teacher’s association handbook.
Years later, after moving to New York City, his wacky colorful sculptures and paintings became an integral part of the ballooning East Village Art scene of the 1980s, where he had several one person shows at the legendary Gracie Mansion Gallery. In 1985 his large sculpture “Ark of Triumph” was featured in the prestigious Whitney Museum Biennial exhibition.
In the 1990’s Rodney’s experimentation with the then novel personal computer led him to the production of interactive CD-ROMs and then to the video game industry. He became the artistic force behind the best selling game for Sony Playstation called “Parappa The Rapper.” This led to a whole line of popular consumer products distributed in Japan, and a weekly animated television series also in Japan. Rodney has now become known as one of the worlds top character designers, with his original character franchise “Thunder Bunny” still popular in Japan.
In the 2000’s Rodney worked on advertising and illustration projects for some of the worlds most respected companies including Sony, Toyota, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and currently in Japan with Dentsu agency and Japan Railroad Kyushu.
in 2007 Rodney began studying Zen at the Village Zendo in NYC. In 2013 he became a senior student and received the Buddhist name “Musho.” In 2016 he became the administrative director there. His book on Buddhism and Zen, Dharma Delight was published in 2016.
Sho+1 is thrilled to introduce a new body of 3-D construction works by Rodney Alan Greenblat as his primary gallery in Japan.
WORKS
BIOGRAPHY
1960 Born in Daly City, California, 1974-78 Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, Maryland 1978 Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C. 1978-82 School of Visual Arts, NY, BFA with Honors Currently lives in Catskill NY
PAST EXHIBITIONS
Selected Exhibitions 1982 “The Threshold, Rodney Alan Greenblat,” Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design 1983 Gracie Mansion Gallery in New York, USA 1985 Whitney Biennial – Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, USA 1987 “Paintings and Furniture” Hokin/Kaufman Gallery in Chicago, IL, USA 1988 “Design Your Own Future,” Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA 1989 John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco, CA, USA 1992 “Land Ho! The Mythic World of Rodney A. Greenblat” Chrysler Museum in Norfolk Virginia, USA 1994 “Rodney Time” Creation Gallery in Tokyo Japan 1998 “New Studio Rodney” Parco department stores, Japan 1999 “Rodney’s Art in a Box” Sony Plaza in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan 2000 “Rodney’s Character Club and Post Office” Parco Department Store in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan 2006 “Downtown – The New York Art Scene 1974-1984” Grey Art Gallery NYU in New York, USA 2008 “Free Wheel” solo show BCB ART, Hudson, NY, USA 2012 “Karma-con” group show The Rubin Museum in New York, NY, USA 2015 “Vibrant Space” solo show BCB Gallery, Hudson NY 2020 “Something to Look Forward to” solo show Hudson Hall in Hudson, NY, USA Selected Children’s Books 1997 “Thunder Bunny” (Japanese version) published by Sony Magazines 2000 “RodneyFun Comic Collection No.1” published by Little More – Tokyo, Japan 2010 “Thunder Bunny Helps Shypupu” published by Interlink – Tokyo, Japan Selected CD-ROM Software 1996 “Clickamajigs” Downloadable interactive software toys for Nick Online, published by Nickelodeon Selected Video Games 1997 “Parappa The Rapper” published by Sony Computer Entertainment 2001 “Parappa 2” published by Sony Computer Entertainment 2006 “Parappa The Rapper PSP” published by Sony Computer Entertainment Selected Animation 1993 Ugo Ugo Lhuga – Japanese Children’s program on Fuji TV- “Rodney Guy” daily segment 2001 “Parappa The Rapper” produced by Sony Visual Works, broadcast on FUJI TV 2002 “Bibi Little’s Rainbow Day – A Thunder Bunny Fuwa Fuwa Story” produced and distributed by Sony Creative Products, animation by Yuichi Ito Teaching 1993 – 1997 School of Visual Arts – New York City – Masters, Computer Art, Interactivity Selected Public and Corporate Collections Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, RI, USA Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, USA Fine Arts Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke, VA, USA Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA, USA Rubin Museum in New York, NY, USA
