2020
acrylic on Arches 140lb hot pressed paper
45 x 45 inches
114.3 x 114.3 cm
KAREN RIFAS: paper. color. lines.
Save The Date
OPENING RECEPTION
Friday, February 6, 2026 | 5-9pm
LnS Gallery is delighted to present paper. color. lines, an exhibition of acrylic on paper paintings produced by Karen Rifas over a decade of persistence, charting a sustained investigation into geometry, structure, and color.
Paper, a medium that admits no erasure or disguise, has long been associated with material honesty, a quality that allows Rifas to use this arena as a site of investigation rather than a preparatory space. Utilizing chromatic tension, shifting scales and a keen sense of balance, Rifas composes complete works of art within a draftsman’s arena, where the white space of the paper is animated, or subdued, by it’s kaleidoscopic counterparts.
Join us for an opening reception Friday, February 6, 2026, from 5:00 to 9:00pm in the presence of the artist. Refreshments will be served. Please feel free to contact the gallery for further inquiry.
Known for a bold body of work centered on studies of geometry, form, & color, Karen Rifas (b. 1942, Chicago, IL) brings contemplative works to her viewers that question the delicate balance between the made & the discovered. Informed by her surroundings, Rifas has documented the constant flux of Miami (among other destinations of inspiration) through a visual language backed by mathematical precision finished with unexpected palettes that evoke a sense of serenity. In the words of the artist, “My work serves as an illusion for a delusional era. In a world overwhelmed by noise… I find refuge in a surreal yet structured realm of color, line, and form.”
Rifas received a BFA and MFA from the University of Miami (1985, 1987 respectively) and steadily made her mark on the national & international art scenes, having consistently exhibited across both from the late 1980’s onward. From solo & group exhibitions, public art projects, and distinguished collections alike, Rifas has accumulated an extensive curriculum.
Notable solo exhibitions include Defining Spaces: Selections from the Karen Rifas Papers, in 2019 (Dimensions Variable, Miami, FL) To Weave a Threshold, and Miami to Maine, in 2022 and 2025 (Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL). Parallelly, she has exhibited in group exhibitions such as Artful Books, in 2021 (curated by Barbara Young at the Museum of Art and Sciences, Daytona Beach, FL) At the Edge, (Oolite Arts, Miami Beach, FL) and In the Company of Women: At Large, (LnS Gallery, Miami, FL) both in 2022.
Recent achievements include participation in the Oolite Arts Home + Away Residency at Mass MoCA (North Adams, MA), the Artist-in-Residence Program at the Deering Estate (Cutler Bay, FL), as well as receiving an Ellies Creator Award, and a commission for the Miami Dade Civil & Probate Courthouse titled “Building Blocks of Color,” by way of the Art In Public Places Initiative of Miami, FL (all 2025). Additionally, she received the prestigious Michael Richards Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Oolite Arts in 2019. Her work will also be featured with prominent placement in the upcoming publications, “That’s the Way I See it,” – an exploration on Miami’s public art by Robin Hill, and “Miami Art Boom,” an deep dive into the transition of Miami’s local vision to international presence by Elisa Turner.
Karen Rifas’s work resides in the permanent collections of The Bass Museum of Art (Miami Beach, FL), Perez Art Museum, Miami (Miami, FL), Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami, FL), NSU Art Museum (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), and Museo de Arte de Ponce (Ponce, Puerto Rico).
LnS GALLERY
2610 SW 28th Lane, Miami FL 33133
305 781 6164
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