RESUME
In 1976 I had a solid fine art background, having been mentored as a teenager by Willem DeKooning, graduated from the High School of Music and Art in New York City and received a BFA from Cooper Union. However, I decided not to continue to graduate school for an MFA and get a teaching job, but rather to find a regular job in the "real world" outside of academia and get a studio in lower Manhattan to start working making art.
Using my art skills and knowledge of filmmaking I got a union job as a prop master on TV commercials in 1980. This seemed to be a very practical job for a young artist just starting out. The job only required 120 days a year to provide a good salary and health insurance, and left me with 240 days to make art and deal with the business of living in New York City. I have since stopped my commercial work and devoted myself full-time to art.
I currently live and work in Amagansett, NY, and New York City.
EDUCATION
1976 BFA from Cooper Union, New York City (Painting Major & Film Minor)
1969 HS at Music and Art, New York City
SHORT FILMS
2013 "COSTA RICA >MUNICH >AMAGANSETT<2013" (7 minutes)
1983 "NO YORK CITY" (5 minutes, 16mm film). A portrait of New York City in the 1980's completed in 1983 and published in 2011
1973 "HUDSON RIVER PARLEY" (10 minutes, 16mm film). A film about living in the city and being actively engaged politically or living in the country and making art.
SHOWINGS OF SHORT FILMS
2013 "COSTA RICA>MUNICH>AMAGANSETT<2013" Ille Fine Arts, Amagansett. N.Y.
2013 "NO YORK CITY" LICHTER FILMFEST INTERNATIONAL, Frankfurt, Germany
2012 "NO YORK CITY" "RADICAL VIEWS" Bronx Museum New York City
2012 "NO YORK CITY" Asbury Shorts Festival. New York City
1974 "HUDSON RIVER PARLEY" Young Filmmaker's Series. Donnell Library, New York City
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2013 Landscapes: Parrellel Visual Journals. Curated by Flo Lunn. Ille Fine Arts, Amagansett, New York
2013 Amagansett Art: Across the Ages. Curated by Elena Prohaska Glinn and Pamela Williams. Miss Amelia's Cottage, Amagansett, New York
2013 Come Together: Surviving Sandy Year One. Curated by Phong Bui. Dedalus Foundation -Industrial City. Brooklyn, New York
2013 Artist Choose Artists. Curated by Andre Grover and Alicia Longwell. Parrish Art Museum. Southampton, New York
2013 2nd Annual Holiday Show. Curated by Sara DeLuca. Ille Fine Arts. Amagansett, New York
2012 Winter Show, Ille Fine Arts. Amagansett, New York
2012 Inside/Outsider. Curated by Mary Heilmann. Fireplace Project East Hampton, New York
2008 “We Cover the Waterfront: A Celebration of Seaport Artists” Space Gallery, New York, NY
2004 “By the Gladness of the River: Creativity at the Seaport 1950 to Present” South Street Seaport Museum, New York, NY
1996 “Small Works” Cooper Union, New York, NY
1996 “Under the Shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge” Bridge Café, New York, NY
1993 “Summer Group Show” Ward-Nasse, New York, NY
1992 “Media Life” Ward-Nasse, New York, NY
1991 “Gong Show” Realart Gallery, New York, NY
1976 “New York/Neu Amsterdam” curated by Peter Frank, Hansen Gallery, New York, NY
1971 “Artists of the Region” Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY
GRANTS AND RESIDENCIES
2013 Recipient of Disaster Grant, Pollack Krassner Foundation
2013 Recipient of Disaster Grant, Joan Mitchell Foundation
2013 Recipient of Disaster Grant, New York Foundation of the Arts
1980 ZBS Foundation "residency"
BIBLIOGRAPHY/ BLOGS AND REVIEWS
March 2011 Jonah Green "NO YORK CITY A Frantic, Hypnotic Look At 1980's New York" (VIDEO) Huffington Post, (Internet news outlet)
March 2011 Drew Grant "Rick Liss is frenetic short No York City," Salon.com (blog)
March 2011 "Wonderful time lapse video of New York City 1983", Dangerous Minds. (blog)
March 2011 Meg Nesterov "Take a stop motion trip to 1983 New York City." Gadling. (blog)
March 2011 Stephanie Sabin "Old New York City." The WOW Report (blog)
March 2011 Elle. "No York City" In the 1980s Video, Bowery Boogie
March 2011 EDW Lynch. "N.Y.C. ( No York City) Brilliantly documents 1980s NYC," Laughing Squid