Waverly Small Works Gallery will host ‘A Life in Art: Works by Robert Stark,’ an exhibition honoring the celebrated artist’s career and legacy following his passing earlier this year. The opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 26.
Submitted Artwork
Waverly Small Works Gallery invites the community to “A Life in Art: Works by Robert Stark,” a special commemorative exhibition honoring the celebrated artist’s career and legacy following his passing earlier this year.
Curated by Bill Chickillo, the exhibition will feature Stark’s diverse works, offering visitors an opportunity to reflect on the evolution of an artist whose work resonated locally, nationally, and internationally.
The opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 26, at Waverly Small Works Gallery, located at the Waverly Community House, 1115 N. Abington Road, Waverly Twp. It is free and open to the public.
The collection featured in this exhibition will be available for purchase.
Throughout his career, Stark exhibited extensively, with solo exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Phillips Collection, and museums in Nashville, Augusta, Georgia, and Dallas, Pa., among others. His work also traveled internationally through the U.S. State Department to more than 140 world capitals, introducing audiences around the world to his singular artistic vision.
Stark’s connection to art began in childhood through the influence of his grandmother, a decorative painter. Although his formal artistic training took place during high school, he remained deeply committed to continually expanding and reinventing his visual language throughout his life.
Early inspiration came from the work of Hans Hofmann, and like Picasso, Stark repeatedly transformed his artistic practice over the decades, moving from photography to landscape painting and eventually to the richly layered abstract works for which he became widely recognized.
After returning from Hong Kong in 1985, Stark increasingly focused on abstract painting while maintaining roots in the landscape tradition. His work explored form, line, color, and spatial relationships with remarkable depth and energy. Some works suggest horizons, rivers, sky, and earth, while his later paintings burst with vibrant squares and rectangles that appear to pulse beyond the edges of the canvas.
Reflecting on his artistic philosophy, Stark once wrote: “Daily life relies on intuition, conflict, courage, mistakes, surprises, a letting go of beauty, a surrender to chaos, silence, solitude. Failures inform more than success.”
The exhibition serves as both a celebration and remembrance of Robert Stark’s life in art. His work reflects a lifetime of fearless experimentation, curiosity, and artistic vision, while offering audiences an opportunity to experience the extraordinary breadth and emotional resonance of his creative journey.
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays by appointment only.
