Daniel Rothbart

Rothbart holds a B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design, and an M.F.A. from Columbia University. He is the author of three books. Jewish Metaphysics as Generative Principle in American Art (1994) explores the relationship between Jewish culture and post-war American abstraction. The Story of the Phoenix (1999) examines American cultural identity, Hollywood, and the transmutation of meaning through digital collages inhabited by his sculpture. Seeing Naples: Reports from the Shadow of Vesuvius (2018) is a book of travel writing inspired by Rothbart's experiences as a Fulbright scholar in Naples during the early 1990's. The work combines personal narrative with stories from the city's history, ancient and modern, that speak to Neapolitan values and culture.

Rothbart's studio projects include Inscrutable Theologies, Aachen, Germany; Streaming II at The Frank Institute @ CR10, Linlithgo, New York; The Rumsey Street Project, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Air de Venise, Venice, Italy; and Waterlines at the Galerie Depardieu, Nice, France. He has exhibited in Ventisette artisti e una rivista, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy; Citydrift, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, New York; But I'm an American, Belgrade Cultural Centre, Serbia; and Meditation - Mediation, Life is Art Foundation, New Orleans, Louisiana. Rothbart has also exhibited at the Andrea Meislin Gallery, Exit Art, WhiteBox, the LAB Gallery in New York City, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, New York, and the Artists Residence Gallery in Herzliya, Israel. Rothbart was awarded Fulbright-Hays Fellowship in Italy, a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, a New York State Council for the Arts NYSCA grant, and a residency at La Napoule Art Foundation in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France. His work is the subject of a monograph by Enrico Pedrini published in 2010 by Ulisse e Calipso of Naples, Italy. In 2015, Rothbart wrote an essay and four commentaries on the theme of water-based performance as the special lead section of PAJ 111, published by MIT Press.

Rothbart's work can be found in public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Filmography

2022 Dinner with Robbe-Grillet in Naples (26 minutes; 2022; director), USA and Italy, starring Wayne Koestenbaum, cinematography by Alan Raymond, poster design by Francine Hunter McGivern, trailer by Chalkley Studios, screenings at festivals in France and Italy. Debut screening at La Napoule Art Foundation, Château de La Napoule. Critics Award, Chameleon Film Festival - Contemporary Visions, Naples, Italy. Best Documentary, Production Award, Vesuvius International Film Festival, Castellammare di Stabia, Italy. Best Documentary Short Award, 8 & HalFilm Awards, Rome, Italy.

2021 Horloges à eau : une installation sculpturale flottante dans la rivière Hudson (9 minutes; director, videographer) USA, drone videography by Alon Koppel. Debut screening at OVNi - Objectif Vidéo Nice, Nice, France.

2020 Flottille : une installation sculpturale flottante au lac Oakdale (5 minutes; director, videographer) USA, drone videography by Alon Koppel. Debut screening at OVNi - Objectif Vidéo Nice, Nice, France.

2012 Everything Flows, Nothing Stands Still - For Enrico Pedrini (23 minutes; 2012; director), USA and Germany, cinematography by Joachim Gerich, commissioned by Wolfgang Becker. Debut screening at WhiteBox Contemporary Art Center.

1999 Pollen (4 minutes; sculpture; set design), USA, directed by Jason Banker, cinematography by Jason Banker, music by KlezRoym.