Carole Caroompas (1946 – July 31, 2022) was an American painter known for work which examined the intersection of pop culture and gender archetypes.
Early life and education Carole Caroompas was born in Oregon City, Oregon, and spent her childhood in Newport Beach, California.
Caroompas earned a B.A. from California State University, Fullerton and an M.F.A. from the University of Southern California. She taught fine art courses at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
Career Carole Caroompas's paintings are complex, layered compositions that deconstruct popular cultural narratives to explore gender and power dynamics from a feminist perspective. Throughout her five-decade career, the Los Angeles-based artist drew from diverse sources, including literature, mythology, film, and punk aesthetics, to create her "fragmented narratives." Her work is visually dense, theatrical, and demands to be decoded by the viewer
Awards and fellowships
Caroompas' awards included grants from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, COLA (City of L.A.), two from the National Endowment for the Arts and a California Community Foundation Fellowship. In 1995 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.Carole Caroompas , John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Selected exhibitions
Caroompas exhibited at the Ben Maltz Gallery in Los Angeles, the Whitney Museum of American Art, LACMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Western Project in Culver City, Mark Moore in Santa Monica, P.P.O.W. in New York, Sue Spaid Fine Art, the Hammer Museum at UCLA, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
1994: "Before and After Frankenstein: The Woman Who Knew Too Much" at Sue Spaid Fine Art, Los Angeles, CaliforniaMyers, T. R. (1994). Carole Caroompas. New Art Examiner, 2237-38.
1998: "Carole Caroompas: Lady of the Castle Perilous" at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CaliforniaRoth, C. (1998). Carole Caroompas at Otis College of Art and Design. Artweek, 2920-21.
1999: “Heathcliff and the Femme Fatale go on Tour” at the Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica, CaliforniaCooper, J. (1999). Carole Caroompas: Mark Moore Gallery. New Art Examiner, 26(9), 47-48.
2008: "Dancing with Misfits: Eye-Dazzler” at Western Project, Culver City, CaliforniaDuncan, M. (2008). Carole Caroompas at Western Project. Art In America, 96(5), 204-205.
2015: "Lore and Behold: The Art of Carole Caroompas" at Pasadena City College
Personal life Caroompas died in 2022, from Alzheimer's disease, at the age of 76.
References
External links Simmering Talent in O.C. Suburbs Interview from Netropolitan.org