RICK BARTOW

- RICK BARTOW -

Wiyot, 1946-2016

Rick Bartow, of Wiyot ancestry, spent his life seeking connection and inspiration from his Northern Californian Indigenous heritage. Bartow’s work is characterized by emotional intensity and deeply personal themes, spanning various mediums, including painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. Bartow served in the army during the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1971. His experiences as a soldier deeply affected him, and his return to the U.S. was marked by struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism. 

Art became a crucial form of therapy and self-expression helping him process trauma and reconnect with his ancestral identity. Bartow's work often explored themes of transformation, identity, and the relationship between humans and animals. He was particularly interested in animals as metaphors for spiritual and emotional states, and his work typically feature figures blending human and animal forms in transformation. His use of contrasting colors and expressive mark-making captured the intensity of these inner experiences and connection to the natural and spiritual worlds. 

Rick Bartow’s major solo exhibition, Things You Know But Cannot Explain, traveled across the country to notable institutions: the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, the Gilcrease Museum, North Dakota Museum of Art, IAIA MoCNA, Washington State University Museum of Art, the Heard Museum, Boise Art Museum, Shingoethe Center, Aurora University, the Autry Museum, the High Desert Museum and Missoula Art Museum (2015-2020). The artist’s work is in the collections of notable institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Portland Art Museum, the Seattle Art Museum and the Eiteljorg Museum, among many others.