Rachel Paxton

Rachel Paxton received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from the School of The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Her neon sign paintings are currently represented by Mixx Atelier in Telluride, Colorado.

Her stylized interpretations of mid-century neon signs are hyper-idealized with atomic clichés resulting in new docu-fiction icons of advertisement. They are revered as American archetypes, while contradictorily, they are based on memories that are often inaccurate and culturally biased. The neon signs inhabit spatially ambiguous environments which are combinations of generic landscapes and flat abstract patterns. A long shadow of late afternoon light implies a familiar location, while in reality, the specific neon signs reside in a non-specific context. The paintings explore the intersection between selectivity and approximation, deep and flat space, and pattern and texture. They reveal unresolved tensions between abstraction, decoration and landscape, while referring to Pop Art, mid-century Western kitsch and our fading collective memories.

Rachel Paxton’s work has been exhibited at many galleries and museums since 1987. In the Boston area, Ms. Paxton has exhibited at the Clark Gallery in Lincoln, Alpha Gallery, and the Zoe Gallery, on Newbury St. Museums included the Institute of Contemporary Art, the DeCordova Museum, the Rose Art Museum, the Fitchburg Art Museum, the Fuller Museum and many others. In addition, Ms. Paxton has exhibited her paintings in New York City at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, in Naples Florida at Longstreth-Goldberg Art Gallery and at the Allyn Gallup Gallery in Sarasota, in Provincetown at Rice/Polack Gallery, and Three Graces Gallery in Portsmouth, NH. Her work has been included in group exhibitions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Greenwich, CT.