Bio
I am a painter and UX designer living in Brooklyn, NY. I'm always making something, from paintings to pet-themed patterns to Halloween costumes for me and my dog.
I don't like to draw attention to myself, which is why I find it somewhat embarrassing that my paintings are often self-portraits. My art has always been about anxieties: unease with the unknown, the fear inherent in uncertainty, and the dread of isolation.
Starting in my late 30's, I found myself painting about the pressure to procreate and the dread of growing old. My recent work has either featured men swimming underwater through stiffly stylized water or an amphibious version of myself surrounded by tadpoles.
I’m interested in exploring the use of obfuscation as a narrative device, and as a mode for conveying a shy person's reluctant self-portraits. Compositionally, this means that my work often has a void in the center, a shape blocking the view, or a pattern obscuring the action. In the case of this work, the men are barely visible through the roiling pattern in the water, while the women are exposed but stuck, framed by repeated tadpoles and stylized waves.
Selected Exhibitions
2019
Be.Long.Ing, I Like Your Work Podcase Juried Exhibition, https://www.
2015
The Bushwick 500, English Kills Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
New Work City, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY
2014
Family Style, Formerly Pocket Utopia, New York, NY
Proto Intro Two, Proto Gallery, Hoboken, NJ
See-Through, Projekt722, Brooklyn, NY
2013
*Judith Linhares & Loren Monk with Rebecca Litt, Valentine Gallery, Ridgewood, NY
Fiction/non-fiction, Storefront Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY
Exhibition Game, Small Black Door, Ridgewood, NY
Legends of the Draft, Centotto, Brooklyn, NY
2012
*False Fortress, Univ. of Louisiana at Monroe Bry Art Gallery, Monroe, LA
Land Escape, Parallel Art Space, Ridgewood, NY
Safety, LiloVeve, Brooklyn, NY
Life Inside and Out, 308at156 Project Artspace, New York, NY
Souvenir, Camel Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
Courtesy Roman Abramovich, Centotto, Brooklyn, NY
2011
Contemporaries, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME
Surrealism, Factory Fresh, Brooklyn, NY
So Happy Together, Norte Maar, Brooklyn, NY
Nautical Notes: Mari, Navi, e Naufragi, Centotto, Brooklyn, NY
48 HRS, Camel Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
Getting Closer, Brooklyn Fireproof Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Life Inside and Out, 308 at 156 Project Artspace, New York, NY
2010
Portraits, STOREFRONT, Brooklyn, NY
Sacred and Profane, Portsmouth Museum of Art, Portsmouth, NH
Cool and Collected, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
Cocktails and Dreams, Laundromat, Brooklyn , NY
First Exit to Brooklyn, Pop-Up Show, Brooklyn, NY
The Box Which Contains The World, Brooklyn Fireproof, Brooklyn, NY
2009
R.S.V.P., The George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME
2008
Off the Wall, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
Figuratively Speaking, The George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME
*At Home, Artstream Gallery, Rochester, NH
Blue, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
2007
Art Faculty Review, University of New Hampshire Art Gallery, Durham, NH
*MFA Thesis Exhibition, SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN
MFA Painting Show, SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN
2006
REFRESH, SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN
Emerging Talent, Prima Gallery, Bloomington IN
MFA Painting Show, SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN
Graduate Drawing Show, Fuller Projects, Bloomington, IN
*star denotes solo show
Curatorial
2011
Getting Closer, Brooklyn Fireproof Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Press
2013
Panero, James, "Gallery Chronicle," The New Criterion, November 2013
Markel, Eliot, "Rebecca Litt, Valentine Gallery," White Elephant On Wheels, November, 9, 2013
Sutton, Benjamin, "Highlights from Friday's Beat-Nite, Bushwick's Semi-Annual Gallery Extravaganza," ArtInfo, October 28, 2013
2011
Walden, Deborah, "Rebecca Litt: Urban Realities," Nashville Arts, December 2011, p. 64-67
Breakthru Radio, Interview with Thomas Seely, "Art Uncovered," September 13, 2011
2010
Kalm, James, "Brooklyn Dispatches: Those Damend Weeds," The Brooklyn Rail, Dec 2010/Jan 2011
Teaching Experience
2007-9
Lecturer, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH.
Courses taught: Intro Drawing, Intro Painting, Intermediate Painting, and Advanced Drawing
2005-7
Associate Instructor, Indiana University School of Fine Arts, Bloomington, IN
Courses taught: Intro Painting and Intro Drawing
Associate Instructor, Indiana University Florence Study Abroad Program, Florence, Italy
Courses taught: Drawing
Related Professional Experience
2012
Visiting Artist Lecture, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, LA
2010
Visiting Artist Lecture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2009
Visiting Critic, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2008
Guest Artist Lecture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Residencies
2009
La Napoule Art Foundation, Mandelieu-La Napoule, France