My nature is to make things and to face the chaos of the world by processing it in the laboratory of the studio. Drawing has been my clearest path, I think because of the direct connection it makes between the conscious and unconscious mind. Teaching has always complemented making, both because it is creatively challenging and because it is an act of service that balances some of the self-indulgence of the studio.
Rix Jennings was the principal drawing teacher at Houston’s acclaimed magnet arts school HSPVA for 25 years. Before that, he studied art and design at Dartmouth College and the Royal College of Art in London, worked as a designer for Margaret Mead and Rudolf Modley at Glyphs, was a guitarist for the Gov’nors that later became the James Gang, made toys and art objects at Heavenstone Works in NH, and was part of the resurgence of hand papermaking in the US beginning in the 1970’s. He cites among his mentors Aidron Duckworth and Edward Hill. In 1987 he founded rixlab where he teaches drawing and papermaking and conducts workshops and regular life drawing sessions at his studio in Houston.
Education
Dartmouth College BA
Royal College of Art, London, Reynolds Fellowship
University of Houston MFA
Experience
graphic design for Margaret Mead and Rudolf Modley at GLYPHS, NYC
graphic design for Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, NH
Heavenstone Works art objects for museum stores nationally, NH
Head of Media and 2D Studies, HSPVA, Houston 1987-2011
Film Making for Actors, Theatre Dept., Prairie View A&M University 2011- 2015
set design for Theatre Dept., Prairie View A&M University 2011- 2015
rixlab life drawing and papermaking labs and workshops 1987- present
Solo Exhibitions
2015 Hunter Gather Project, Houston, TX
2011 Cloister Gallery, Houston, TX
1979 AVA Gallery, Hanover, NH
1977 Worthington Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1977 Saric Gallery, Rochester, NY
1976 Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
1976 Saric Gallery, Rochester, NY
1975 Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Numerous group shows including:
Hunter/Gather Project, Houston
Avis Frank Gallery, Houston
West End Gallery, Houston
The Firehouse Gallery, Houston
Harris Gallery, Houston
Commerce Street Artists Warehouse, Houston
Lawndale Art and Performance Center, Houston
Transco Gallery, Houston
Houston Center for Photography
Diverse Works, Houston
Langman Gallery, Philadelphia
Convergence Gallery, NYC
College of Idaho, Caldwell ID
Jackie Chalkley Gallery, Washington DC
Cohen Gallery, Denver, CO
Roberson Center, Binghamton, NY
Phenix Gallery, Concord, NH
Sharon Arts Center, Peterborough, NH
Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC
William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Dexterity Gallery, Toronto, Canada
George Kunze Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Chambers Gallery, Penn State University
Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Kipp Gallery, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Cameron Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC
Gimpel Weitzenhoffer, NYC
Fairtree Gallery, NYC