Richard Pasquarelli

Commissioned and donated by Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo and the Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc., Richard Pasquarelli’s Houses at Night series features buildings from the Roanoke College campus.

 

“In my Houses at Night series of oil paintings, I seek to build on the tradition of American Realists, such as Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth, depicting images of daily life, while introducing the ambiguous and somewhat unsettling vision of filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch. In these cinematic compositions I capture and freeze a moment in time, striking us with a sense of mystery, elusion, and psychological impact.”

Richard Pasquarelli
Houses at Night, Monterey
2018
42” x 20”
oil on linen  

 

“These paintings are inspired by the crepuscular moment of dusk through the pitch black of night and into the wee hours of dawn, a time when mystery abounds. People disappear from sight as houses light up with private scenes, acted out from the attic to the bedroom to the basement. Outside life emerges from the blackness. Sounds sneak out of nowhere, lingering throughout the night, playing in concert with the secretive goings on of the houses at night.”

Richard Pasquarelli
Houses at Night, Clay House
2018
24” x 30”
oil on linen

 

“Houses at Night paintings also trick us. When focusing on the blue/black background, we begin to imagine forms that are not present. In this series, I not only play with the eye of the observer but provoke them to draw upon their own experiences and memories of residential environments to complete the image.”

Richard Pasquarelli
House at Night XX, (Monterey Slave Quarters, Salem, VA)
2021
30” x 24”
oil on linen

Richard Pasquarelli has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions in museums, galleries, and art fairs throughout the U.S. and Europe. His work is represented globally in many public and private collections including: The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Detroit Institute of Arts, The US Library of Congress, the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, The Zabludowicz Collection, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, General Dynamics Inc., and Progressive Insurance. Selected residencies and awards include MASS MoCA, The Ragdale Foundation, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Cleveland Museum of Art/Print Club of Cleveland Annual Presentation Print commission for 2017, and multiple public installations for the city of New York. Pasquarelli was born in New York in 1968 and received his BFA from Syracuse University. Pasquarelli lives and works in New York City.