Red Grooms was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and came to New York in 1957 when he began exhibiting his art work. Best known as a sculptor for his fantastic walk through environments, Grooms is also a prolific painter, printmaker, pioneering performance artist and film maker. Developer of the sculpto-pictorama, his 1993 Grand Central Terminal Show is still remembered by thousands as a peak artistic experience. Other environments include an Agricultural Building for the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa, the beloved Ruckus Manhattan (replete with subway car and Brooklyn Bridge) and a Ruckus Rodeo commissioned by The Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art. Mixed media pieces highlight portraits of contemporary and classic artists, ranging from Toulouse-Lautrec to Francis Bacon. Hollywood greats, historical figures, even Chuck Berry have been immortalized in the exuberant Grooms style. Intertwining sculpture with painting, his work transcends both traditional portraiture and caricature.

Solo Exhibitions

• 2011Red Grooms, New York: 1976-2011, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 2010Old Masters and Modern Muses: Red Grooms’s Portraits of Artists, 1957-2009, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States.
• 2009Red Grooms: Dancing, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, New York, United States.
• 2008Red Grooms: In the Studio, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York, United States.
• 2007Red Grooms: Recent Paintings, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 2005Nassau Red! Red Grooms: Ruckus in Roslyn, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York, United States.
• 2004The Private World of Red Grooms, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 2004Red Grooms: Paris – New York, Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris, France.
• 2004Adventures Past & Present with Red Grooms, Irving Galleries, Palm Beach, Florida, United States.
• 2004Red Grooms: Selections from the Graphic Work, Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, New York, United States.
• 2004Red Grooms: New Works in Wood, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 2003The Human Comedy: Portraits by Red Grooms, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York, United States. Traveled to the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida; and the Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina.
• 2003Red Grooms, Lord and Taylor, New York, New York, United States.
• 2002Red Grooms: Recent Works, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 2000Red Grooms: Sculpture, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey, United States.
• 2000Red Grooms: peintures et sculptures, Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris, France.
• 2000Red Grooms in Pursuit of Serious Fun, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States.
• 2000Red Grooms: Selections from the Complete Graphics Works, The National Academy of Design, New York, New York, United States. Traveled to the Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois; Montgomery Museum of Arts, Montgomery, Alabama; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida; Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida; and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, Tennessee (through 2004).
• 1999Red Grooms: Sculptures and Constructions, Marlborough Florida, Boca Raton, Florida, United States. Inaugural Exhibition.
• 1999Red Grooms: New Monoprints, Marlborough Graphics, New York, New York, United States.
• 1999Red Grooms: New Works, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1998Red Grooms and the Heroism of Modern Life, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States.
• 1998Red Grooms: Moby Dick Meets the New York Public Library, Norton Museum, Palm Beach, Florida, United States.
• 1997Traveling with Red Grooms, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1997Red Grooms, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States.
• 1997Snapshots, Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale, Riverdale, New York, United States.
• 1996Red Grooms: A Personal History of Art, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, United States.
• 1995Red Grooms: The New York Stories, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1995Red Grooms: What’s All the Ruckus About?, Cheekwood-Tennessee Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Traveled to The Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, Florida; The Albany Museum of Art, Albany, Georgia; The Michell Art Gallery at St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland.
• 1994Target: Red Grooms!, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Malibu, California, United States.
• 1994Red Grooms’s Dame of the Narrows and the Greater New York Harbor, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, United States.
• 1994Civic Virtues: Lights! Camera! Action!, Nations Bank Plaza, Charlotte, North Carolina, United states.
• 1993Have Brush Will Travel: Red Grooms’ Watercolor World, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1993Red Grooms, Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya, Japan. traveled to Ashiya City Museum of Art & History; Mitsukoshi Museum of Art, Tokyo; The Museum of Art, Kochi
• 1993Red Grooms, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas, United States.
• 1993Red Grooms’ Ruckus Rodeo, Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York, United States.
• 1993Red Grooms at Grand Central, Grand Central Station, New York, New York, United States.
• 1992Ruckus Rodeo, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, Colorado, United States.
• 1992Red Grooms: Dame of the Narrows, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, United States. long-term installation
• 1992Red Grooms: New Works, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1991Red Grooms, Kathryn Ellman Gallery, Aspen, Colorado, United States.
• 1990Red Grooms: Oeuvres Récentes, FIAC 1990, Paris, France.
• 1990Red Grooms: Tourist Traps and Other Places, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1989Traveling with Red Grooms: Watercolors 1987-89, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1987Red Grooms: Recent Prints, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
• 1987Graphics, Simms Fine Art, New orleans, Louisiana, United States.
• 1987Red Grooms: Retrospective, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, United States.
• 1987Recent Paintings, Sculptures and Drawings, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1986Red Grooms: The Graphic Work, the Fine Arts Center Cheekwood, Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Traveled to Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia; Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, Florida; Erie Art Museum, Erie, Pennsylvania; William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; South Dakota Memorial Art Center, Brookings, South Dakota; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona; Louisiana Arts and Science Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Amarillo Arts Center, Amarillo, Texas; Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, Idaho; Roanoke Museum of Fine Art, Center in the Square, Roanoke, Virginia; The Canton Art Institute, Canton, Ohio; The Oklahoma Arts Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, Alaska; The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York; The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York; Federal Reserve Board Art Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, Georgia; and the Sunrise Art Museum/Fine Art Museum, Charleston, West Virginia.
• 1986Homage to Red Grooms, Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
• 1986Rembrandt Takes a Walk, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. Text by Mark Strand with illustrations by Red Grooms.
• 1985Red Grooms: A Retrospective 1956-1984, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Traveled to Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California; and Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, Tennessee.
• 1985Red Grooms: The Alley, Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain.
• 1985 Hokin/Kaufman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
• 1985Red Grooms: Recent Work, Marlborough Fine Art, London, United Kingdom, United States.
• 1985 Benjamin Mangel Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
• 1985Red Grooms!, Sette Publishing Co., Tempe, Arizona, United States.
• 1984Red Grooms: Recent Work, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1983Ruckus Rodeo, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.
• 1983Public Works - Private Patrons: Images of Modern Times by Red Grooms, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, United States. Traveled to Hunter Museum, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• 1983Graphics from the 80’s, Unicorn Gallery, Aspen, Colorado, United States.
• 1983Maquettes, Monotypes and Graphics, Anderson Ranch, Aspen, Colorado, United States.
• 1982Red Grooms from the Museum’s Collection, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, United States.
• 1982Red Grooms 1977-1982, Carlson Gallery, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States.
• 1982Red Grooms: Ruckus Manhattan, Seibu Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
• 1982 Benjamin Mangel Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
• 1982Red Grooms: Welcome to Cleveland, The New Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio, United States.
• 1982Red Grooms: Philadelphia Cornucopia, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
• 1981Red Grooms: Prints of the Seventies, Fine Arts Center, Cheekwood, Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Traveled to University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi; West Georgia College, Carrollton, Georgia; University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina; Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, Florida; Hickory Museum, Hickory, North Carolina; Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia; Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Louisiana; Louisville Art Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky; Waterworks Gallery, Salisbury, North Carolina; and Davidson College Art Gallery, Davidson, North Carolina.
• 1981Ruckus Manhattan Revisited, Burlington House, New York, New York, United States.
• 1981Red Grooms: Recent Works, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1981Red Grooms: Originals from Local Collections, Montgomery Bell Academy, Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
• 1981Ruckus Rodeo, Aspen Center for the Visual Arts, Aspen, Colorado, United States.
• 1980 Camp Gallery/Signet Fine Prints, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States.
• 1980Discount Store, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States.
• 1980Red Grooms: Works from the 60s, Hatton Art Gallery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States.
• 1979Discount Store, Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, United States.
• 1979 Benjamin Mangel Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
• 1979The Bookstore, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York, United States.
• 1978Discount Store, State University of New York, Purchase, New York, United States.
• 1978 Martin Wiley Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
• 1977 Galerie Roger d’Amecourt, Paris, France.
• 1977 The New Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio, United States.
• 1976Ruckus Manhattan, Marlborough Gallery , New York, New York, United States.
• 1975Works on Paper, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1973The Ruckus World of Red Grooms, Voorhees Hall, Rutgers Gallery of Art, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. Traveled to the New York Cultural Center, New York, New York; and Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas, Venezuela.
• 1972 Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC, United States.
• 1972 Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
• 1972 Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
• 1971 Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
• 1971 John Bernard Myers Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1970 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1967City of Chicago, Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Traveled to the 34 Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska; University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; and the Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois
• 1966 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1965 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1963 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1962 Nashville Artists Guild, Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
• 1960 Reuben Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1958 City Gallery, New York, New York, United States.
• 1958 Sun Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts , United States.