Richanda Phillips Rhoden

Richenda Rhoden (1917–2016) was a Native-American painter, socialite, and New York icon best known as the wife of famed artist, John Rhoden. Rhoden is known for incorporating Native-American symbols and mythology into her work. Her career only began posthumously with Rhoden's first solo exhibition/tribute curated by neighbor and friend Emily Weiner (cofounder of Soloway Gallery).

Life and career

Early years Rhoden (née Phillips) was half Cherokee and half Menominee. Her parents met in Pennsylvania at the Indian Industrial School. Richenda was named after Richard Henry Pratt, the school's founder. Richenda was given the name Paytoemahtamo, a Menominee name which means great woman.

The show is essential because Rhoden included Native American imagery in her works. In Untitled (Bear) (c. 1970), a towering bear highlights the myths contained in both Cherokee and Menominee culture. For the Cherokee, the bear was something to be feared—a violent enemy. For the Menominee, the bear is more akin to ancestors. In Rhoden's depiction, the viewer is tasked with ascertaining whether the bear is meant to protect or devour.

In a review of the show by Art Forum, writer Mira Dayal illustrates the absence of Rhoden's work from public consumption quite clearly when she states, "[the] images evoke the constraints of interiority, protection, and domesticity that bound Rhoden’s work from circulation." Rhoden spent much of her life supporting her husband's career.

Of Rhoden's work, Dayal is quick to mention that the works fall between "exuberant and tortured" and that the visitor is surrounded by Rhoden's fragmented and "hallucinatory visions" often portrayed in signature pastel hazes and in "fleshy pinks, oranges and jaundice d yellows."