ALAN SOFFER

2 Blackthorn RdWallingford, PA 19086 [email protected]

Born: Philadelphia, PA

Painting the reality of the mind in wax, oil, and acrylic

Abstract Expressionist Painter

Co-director and teacher ART INCUBATOR WORKSHOPS
occasional juror
occasional curator

Working In: encaustics, oil, acrylic

Museum & Corporate collections:

  1. Sulmainy Museum, Kurdistan
  2. Museum de Montbelliard, France
  3. Rosenbaum Foundation, NY & Jerusalem
  4. American Express, FL
  5. Eaton Corp., OH

Books:

Upon Thy Doorposts Belle Rosenbaum one page, color plates 1993
New American Paintings Steve Zevitas four pages, color plates/bio 1999
I NEVER OWNED A LAWNMOWER LULU Press autobiography 99 pgs 2014
Encaustics in the Twenty First Century    four pages, color prints 2016


Periodicals:

                                   

Encaustic Magazine 2020 ten pages, Personal Profile Alan Soffer
Blue Streak exhibition 2019 Soffer& Beach  Dr. Mary Holihan
Point Counter-Point 2018 one page, Stephanie Buhmann  
VillanovaPress 2014 Forty year Retrospective  Staff
Town Talk Newspapers 2013 one page, Fifth Art Show together  Reisa Mukameil
Swarthmorean 2013 one page, Art Couple  Reisa Mukameil
A Walk Into Abstracts, vol 4 2012 two pages, Color Plate and Process Sue St.Johns
Arts & Antiques 2007 one page Sakiko
Art Matters Sept. 2004 one page, Pulling Canvas  Wanda Walls
Art Matters March 2003 two pages, Parallel Lives,  Perpendicular Styles  Buzz Miller
Style Magazine March/April 2001 two pages, The Dark Continent  Dr. Lori Verderame
Doylestown Patriot Jan 2001 two pages Artmobile Tour  John Gatti
CountyCalendar Sept. 1995 one page, The Chester County Art Association  staff
Pennsylvania Dental Journal May/June 1994 two pages, Curious Narratives  Dr. R. Galeone
Art Matters Dec 1993 one page, Doctors as Artists  Diana Myers-Bennet Roberts
Art Matters April 1992 one page, Evoking Origins  Carolyn Roland
ADA News March 1989 one page,  Pennsylvanian Seeks Heroes of Dentistry  Stacy Fisch
Art Matters Feb 1988 one page, More Reviews  Joy Gasta
Jewish Exponent May 1985 one page,  Elemental Threads  staff
Inside Magazine Winter 1985 one page, The Beauty of Holiness  Sissy Carpey
Textile Arts Society Vol II  no. 23 one page, National Museum of American Jewish History  


Awards:

1. CAC clay sculpture 1987
2. Jane Law Gallery watercolor 1995
3. Photography Open color print 1997
4. Printmaking '98 collaged monotype 1998
5. Images '98 collaged painting 1998
6. Small Works/ Big Ideas painting 2001
7. Members show/ MLAC painting 2002
8. In Person/ CAC encaustic painting 2004
9. Best of Scottsdale contemporary painting 2005
10. Extravaganza in Red,CCAA encaustic painting 2010
11. Lyceum, NJ encaustic painting 2012
12. Goggleworks, Reading, PA encaustic painting 2012
13. Wayne Art Center, PA encaustic painting 2014
14. Community Art Center, Wallingford, Pa ink, acrylic painting 2017
15. Artists Equity                                                 oil, acrylic painting                 2023

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ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS:
Alan Soffer                                                       Blue Streak Gallery                              Wilmington           DE  2023

VARIATIONS (cancelled due to pandemic) CotuitArt Center Cotuit MA 2020
Alan Soffer Chester County Art Assoc. West Chester PA 2020
Solo GreenvilleCountry Club Greenville DE 2020
TO BE OR NOT TO BE Main Line Unitarian Church Wayne PA 2019
Point Counter-Point (3 person) Delaware Art Museum Wilmington DE 2018
SHAKEN & STIRRED (2 person) Cape Cod Cultural ctr S. Yarmouth Ma 2018
PHANTASMAGORIA Blue Streak Gallery Wilmington DE 2018
"MASTER OF ABSTRACTION" Church Street Gallery West Chester PA 2016
40 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE Villanova U. Villanova PA 2014
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONS ADM Gallery Newtown Square PA 2013
DREAMING, drawing with wax West Chester U. West Chester PA 2013
SOFFER SURVEY Forms Gallery Delray Beach FL 2012
BEST OF SOFFER Gander Gallery Manchester Ctr VT 2012
NOW Pippin Contemporary Santa Fe NM 2011
RIGHT SIDE/ LEFT SIDE OCJAC Philadelphia PA 2011
GEOSCAPES Rosenfeld Gallery Philadelphia PA 2009
RINCON & BEYOND Central Pennsylvania College Harrisburg PA 2009
ALL MY LIFE'S A CIRCLE Rosenfeld Gallery Philadelphia PA 2007
CIRCLE OF LIFE Gallery Sakiko New York New York NY 2007
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONS Robert Roman Gallery Scottsdale AZ 2006
INFUSION Rosenfeld Gallery Philadelphia PA 2005
FUSION/ INFUSION Robert Roman Gallery Scottsdale AZ 2005
OSMOSIS Chester County Art Assoc West Chester PA 2005
ABSTRACT IMPRESSIONS Southern Exposure Gallery N. Palm Beach FL 2004
SAN MIGUEL SUITE Atlantic City Art Center Atlantic City NJ 2003
PROGRESSION Widener University Gallery Chester PA 2003
CHROMA Parallels Gallery Philadelphia PA 2002
TOWARD THE SUBLIME Southern Exposure Gallery W. Palm Beach FL 2000
DECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE LIFE CYCLE Hoyt Institute New Castle PA 2000
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONS Artjaz Gallery Philadelphia PA 2000
MAKING IT UPG Brown Art Gallery Baltimore MD 1999
NEW WORK Artist's House Philadelphia PA 1998
DECONSTRUCTIONS Fulton Bert Gallery Sarasota FL 1997
CONCERNING CREATION Chester County Art Assoc West Chester PA 1995
CURIOUS NARRATIVES The Borowsky Gallery Philadelphia PA 1994
BABYLON REVISITED Nexus Resource Room Philadelphia PA 1992
EVOKING ORIGINS Del. Ctr. Contemporary Art Wilmington DEL 1992
SUMMER SELECTIONS Larsen Dulman Gallery New Hope PA 1989
ONE + ONE + ONE Community Art Center Wallingford PA 1988
ELEMENTAL THREADS Natl. Museum Amer. Jewish History Philadelphia PA 1985

 






GROUP SHOWS: Juried & Invitational

3 person show     Blue Streak Gallery            2023
JURIED show:      Figurative art, MCCC,        2022

INVITATIONAL:   Washington DC                  2022
JURIEDshow:      Cheltenham Art center     2020

MERCHANDISE AND DESIGN Bridgehampton Museum Bridgehampton NY 2019

JURIED SHOWCheltenham Art Center Cheltenham PA

BEST PRACTICES Miller White Gallery S. Dennis MA 2018

RESIST & RECOVER Kyo Gallery Alexandria VA

JURIED SHOW       Wallingford Art Ctr Wallingford PA

ARTISTS EQUITY      West Chester University West Chester PA

WORKS ON PAPER     LBI Foundation       Loveladies NJ

EXHIBITION 280        Huntington Museum Huntington WV

JURIED SHOW       West Windsor Art Center Princeton NJ 2017

LA ART FAIR Sergott Contemporary Rancho Santa Fe CA

NASTY WOMEN     MLUC Devon PA

PATTERNS    CAC Wallingford PA

TRANSCENDENCE     Miller White Gallery S. Dennis Ma

GALLERY ARTISTS        Bazemore Gallery Manayunk PA 2016

SAVING GAIA           Miller White gallery S. Dennis MA

ARTISTS ESQUITY      West Chester U. West Chester PA

ART OF THE STATE State Museum       Harrisburg PA 2015

ANNUAL JURIED SHOW CAC Wallingford PA

JURIED SHOW       Wayne Art Center Wayne PA 2014

 

Juried*        GOGGLEWORKS,Reading,PA 2013
Artists Equity      WIDENER U.,Chester, PA 2013

CENTENNIAL, DEL ART MUSEUM,Wilmington, DEL 2012

Creative Alliance, Hill Top School, Rosemont, PA 2012

JURIED,Lyceum,Burlington,NJ 2012

What's thisJourney about 2012
PIPPIN CONTEMPORARY, SantaFe,NM 2012

OPEN      BWAC     Brooklyn,NY 2012
RED, PENN STATE U.,Malvern, PA 2012

INVITATIONAL    CCAA,   West Chester,PA 2012

GALLERY, Delray Beach,FL 2012

Group,    OWL 57 GALLERY,    Cedarhurst,NY 2012

BEYOND ABSTRACTION,      CFEVA, Philadelphia, PA, 2011

ARTIST'S EQUITY, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA 2011

GRAND OPENING, Pippin Comtemporary, Santa Fe,NM 2011

Death         Salon des Amis, Malvern, PA 2011

COUPLES    LBI   FOUNDATION,    Loveladies,  NJ 2011

Erotica Salon des Amis, Malvern PA 2011

Beyond Limits: OCJAC        Phila PA 2011

ENCAUSTICS     Art Trust West Chester PA 2011

Holiday Show    Rosenfeld Gallery   Philadelphia PA 2010

EXTRAVAGANZA IN RED*     CCAA West ChesterPA 2010

ART IN A BOX       Cheryl Pelavin Gallery NYC NY 2010

Dear Fleisher      Fleisher Art Memorial Phila., PA 2010

New Work;      Diving CatGallery Phoenixville, PA 2009

WINTER SALON     Gallery Sakiko-NY New York, NY 2008

Group: American Contemp. Gallery Annapolis, MD 2008

SECUNDA & FRIENDS*
Museum de Montbeliard  Montbeliard ,   FRANCE 2008
SMALL WORKS     Rosenfeld GalleryPhiladelphia, PA 2008

60 by 60     Duke Gallery Wallingford PA 2008

ANNUAL     ROSENFELD GALLERY    PhiladelphiaPA 2007

WAXING PHILOSOPHIC-5
Wired Gallery Bethlehem PA 2007

TOUCHING THE VOID-5
ATLANTIC CITY ART CENTERAtlantic City,NJ 2007

GroupZENITH GALLERY      Washington DC 2007

Group  HANDSEL GALLERY Santa Fe NM 2007

Something Special Gallery Bellaria, Bryn Mawr PA 2007

WORKS ON PAPER
Main Line Art Center Bryn Mawr, PA 2007

ART x 12+WIDENER UNIVERSITYChester PA 2007

IN PERSON* CAC GalleryWallingford PA 2006

ABSTRACTION-4 PERSON
CREATION ART GALLERYJuno BeachFL 2006

OIL + WAX
ROBERT ROMAN GALLERY Scottsdale, AZ 2006

HOT WAX and COOL ARTISTS
HAYDON ART CENTER, Lincoln, NE 2006

CANVASSING THE COAST
BMS Gallery  Princeton NJ 2005

OIL + WAX Siano GalleryPhiladelphiaPA 2005

SMALL WORKS Rosenfeld Gallery Phila., PA 2005

OIL + WAX    RIVER TREE ARTS,  Kennebunk  MA 2005

INAUGARAL    Creation Art Gallery   Juno Beach, Fl 2005

IN PERSON  CAC Gallery     WallingfordPA 2005

OIL + WAX N. Cal. Arts League Novato, CA 2005

THE GESTURE-Movement & Color
Robert Roman Gallery  Scottsdale, AZ 2004

Summer Show
Garrubbo Bazan Gallery West Chester PA 2004

Gallery Artists   ARTJAZ GALLERY Phila., PA 2004

TOXIC LANDSCAPES
LBI Foundation   Loveladies  NJ 2004

Abstract Exhibition   CCAA West Chester, PA 2004

IN PERSON* CAC WallingfordPA 2004

Group     POSH GALLERY Media PA 2003

SNAPSHOT
ALDRICH MUSEUM   Ridgefield  CONN 2002

REFLECT & RESPOND    KRASDALE NYC  NY 2002

Multi-Media Ex

JOSE MARTI LIBRARY  Havana CUBA 2002

Group PARALLELS GALLERY  PhilaPA 2002

JURIED SHOW  PAFA  Phila, PA 2002

WORKS ON PAPER Sketch Club  PhilaPA 2002

62ND ANNUAL EXHIBITION
WOODMERE MUSEUM. Chestnut HillPA 2002

REFLECT & RESPOND
BURLINGTON COLLEGE   Mount Holly  NJ 2002

FACULTY SHOW   CAC    Wallingford, PA 2002

Artie Partie    DCCA Wilmington  DEL 2001

ART OF THE STATE
STATE MUSEUM OF PA. Harrisburgh PA 2001

TOXIC LANDSCAPES
CHATAM COLLEGE   Pittsburgh PA 2001

ACTS OF KINDNESS
DREXEL UNIVERSITY   PhilaPA 2001

SNAPSHOT ARCADIA COLLEGE,  Jenkintown PA 2001

Urban Blight
Open Space Gallery Allentown PA 2000

 

PAISAGES TOXICOS
Centerfold GALLERY    Lawtron OKLA 2000

ELEPHANT ART    DaVinci Art Alliance,   Phila PA 2000

SNAPSHOT ICA,  Baltimore, MD 2000

GRITTY CITY,   BOROWSKY GALLERY Phila, PA 1999

NEW AMERICAN PAINTINGS
Open Studios Press Wellesley MA 1999

IMAGE '98 * HUB GALLERIES    State College  PA 1998

Summer Exhibition PAFA   PhilaPA 1997

FIN de SIECLE     DCCAWilmington, DEL 1997

FIN de SIECLE
DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY   Dover, DEL 1997

Downtown Installations
BERKSHIRE CAC    North Adams MA 1997

Tiny Works PROJECTS  GALLERY,   Wichata KS 1997

Large Dimension,  ART RESOURCES  St. Paul, MN 1997

PRINTWORK '96
BARRET HOUSE Phoughepsie NY 1996

Exhibition  YORK COLLEGE     York PA 1995

ACROSS BORDERS/SIN FRONTERAS
ART MUSEUM OF AMERICAS    Washington DC 1994

RIENKS MEMORIAL: COMPETITION
Gallery West Alexandria VA 1994

Self Portraits   DCCA  Wilmington  DEL 1994

ARGENTINA INVITATIONAL Museo,  Estudios Historicos Odontalgia
BUENOS AIRES 1994

A PRIVATE SCREENING
ERGANE GALLERYNew York, NY 1994

Juried ShowAbington Art Center  Jenkintown  PA 1992

ART AT THE ARMORY
33RD St Armory    Phila, PA 1992 & 1990

AMERICAN, EUROPEAN/FOLK ART
City Hall    Phila, PA 1989

Artwest Art Center Jackson Hole WY 1988

NATIONAL PAPER/ CLAY
MEMPHIS STATE UNIVERSITY Memphis,TN 1988

Group Clay Show
SANDE WEBSTER GALLERY Philadelplhia PA 1988

Folk Festival U.of PENNSYLVANIA     


PhilaPA 1981

JEWISH RITUAL ART
BALCH INSTITUE Phila PA 1979

 

TEACHING & WORKSHOPS :

ENCAUSTIC PAINTING:

Main Line Art Center, PA

CCAA West Chester, PA

CAC Wallingford, PA

LBI Foundation, NJ

Tempe Center, AZ

Soffer Studio, PA
West Windsor Art Center, NJ

ABSTRACT PAINTING:

ART INCUBATOR, Santa Fe, NM

Haverford College, Krinski program, PA

Painting for the 21st Century, Jamaica

The Creative Center, NYC

Soffer Studio, Wallingford, PA

TAP, Chester, PA
BOCA ART MUSEUM School
Casa de los Artistas, Puerto Vallarta
Lee County Art Center, Fort Myers, FL
GOGGLEWORKS, Reading PA

CURATORIAL:

CAC, Wallingford, PA

Siano Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

River Tree Arts, Kennebunk, ME

Northern Cal. Arts, Novato, CA

Robert Roman Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Waxing Philosophic: Wired Gallery, Bethlehem, PA

BIOGRAPHY:

Alan Soffer has been making art since 1973 in a variety of modalities. Originally, he was known for ceramic sculpture, particularly, religious ritual objects and later for work about ancient healing , deconstruction, and fragmented imagery. His work as teacher and curator continues to augment his primary passion for abstract expressionist painting which began in 1985.

His studies in sculpture and painting include Arrowmont School in Tenn., 1981 with Lew Snyder; State U of New York, Oswego with Richard Zakin; Parsons School of Design with Andrea Gill, 1983; Bennington College with Sandy Slone; Corcoran Museum School of Art with Paul Soldner, Peters Valley Art Center 1986 with Bennett Bean; Penna. Academy of Fine Arts, 1988, 1996, 1999; Ringling School of Design; to name a few.

The work is clearly influenced by abstract expressionists of the past century and others, such as, Rauschenberg, Rivers, Frankenthaler, Motherwell, Chagall, Dubuffet, Keifer, Mondrian, and Polke. The body of work that defined Soffer in the early nineties was about ancient healing. The current emphasis on encaustics is a perfect marriage of his two loves- sculpture and painting.<

The other major direction of his work in the nineties was 'the life cycle', which was inspired through the teachings of Joseph Campbell. This work includes extensive treatment of creation theories, life and deconstruction, and finally rebirth. These subjects required research into science, primitive cultures and the ancient world of medicine and dentistry, before, digesting and expressing the most salient features visually. Soffer continues to find Campbell to be his most important mentor. The life cycle continues with his work in 2015, titled LIFE & DEATH.

Soffer's exhibitions have traveled throughout the US, Argentina, Cuba, Kurdistan. Significant exhibitions have been at Widener University, Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, National Museum of American Jewish History, Hoyt Institute, Atlantic City Art Center, Sande Webster Gallery, York College, Penn State College, Penna. Academy of Fine Arts, the Print Center, Parallels Gallery, State Museum of Penna., Rosenfeld Gallery, Robert Roman Gallery, and Pippin Contemporary.

His use of encaustics began in 1998 and continues to be an integral feature of his oeuvre. Reduction and distillation both buries and exposes bits of his images and sentiments infused in the multilayered paintings. Soffer's use of this ancient technique of hot pigmented wax, through its inherent translucency, supports his vocabulary for expressing space. Space, from the microscopic to the galactic, is a frequent theme.

In 2005 he organized the first national conference on encaustics in the US and possibly in the world. Concurrently, he curated a survey of some of the best people doing this work at the time, which traveled accross the United states to venues in Philadelphia, Kennebunkport, Scottsdale, and Novotno, California. This was instrumental in helping to push this artistic approach to the level it has achieved to date.

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Soffer agrees with Carter Ratcliff's point of view, when he said, "It's a mistake to take the artist's statements at face value. These statements are products of the imagination and so need to be interpreted along with the art." With that idea in mind, the following remarks by four art critics are included.

VICTORIA DONOHUE / PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER [2003, Widener University]

"Soffer is a serious artist with a truly poetic gift for making his paintings coalesce into visions of quite remarkable beauty. He is a colorist and very versatile in this; he uses color exuberantly and paints seemingly with abandon, yet his results are nonetheless strongly rhythmic. Such paintings project an engaging physicality, even though they rely on swift effects to declare their presence as the shapes move back and forth between realistic portrayals of the human figure and abstraction- with the accent on abstraction."

R.B. STRAUSS / METRO PAPER [2002 Parallels Gallery]

"Layers of color lend his art a sense of depth while the choreography of his brushwork yields a dynamic flow from one painting to the next. This sense of traveling into uncharted territory is what makes his work so unique."

ANNE FABBRI / STYLE MAGAZINE [LBI Foundation]

"Highlights of the show created by the Puffin Foundation (Toxic Landscapes) include three haunting Soffer paintings that depict environments within the lifecycle. He finishes the surface with pencil, paint photographs in these mixed media drawings and collages."

JANET PURCELL / THE TIMES [Canvassing the Coast, Bristol Myers Squibb gallery]

"Soffer reaches down into his memories, in the manner of abstract expressionism. Symbolistic strokes fly around on the surface and drama is in every stroke."