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Gallery View: ‘21st Century Digital Boy,’ Marlow Rodale, looks toward the future in Baum School of Art exhibit

“A lot of my art focuses on the intersection between this emerging digital world that we live in and our connection to it,” says Marlow Rodale.

“21st Century Digital Boy” continues through Aug. 18, David E. Rodale and Rodale Family Galleries, The Baum School of Art, Allentown.

Rodale’s exhibition emphasizes the idea of evolution and defining his place in the evolving and shifting digital world.

In his oil paintings, Rodale looks to push the boundaries of contemporary art with geometric structures inhabiting imagined, surreal landscapes. The hybrid space that Rodale has created explores the area between virtual landscape and the real world.

“A lot of my art focuses on the intersection between this emerging digital world that we live in and our connection to it,” says Rodale, referring to “What if Everything Around You Isn’t Quite as it Seems” (2023; oil on canvas, 60 in. x 84 in.).

“I like to create spaces in my work that engage you through perspective and color to give you a world to explore and meditate on the things inside of you, the concerns on your mind, the things that make you happy,” Rodale says.

“So, that’s why I avoid figurative work and stick to more abstract to allow the viewer to create their own story.”

Composition and color are employed to guide viewers’ eyes through his canvasses.

“All art is a self-portrait,” says Rodale, who studied computer science before he became a painter. “I love technology, but have worked on farms and I love gardening.” Through his paintings, Rodale connects natural beauty with the precision of science and technology.

Rodale found inspiration in the works of M. C. Escher and Salvador Dalí.

Marlow Rodale, a Moravian Academy graduate, is the son of husband and wife photographers Anthony and Florence Rodale.

Marlow Rodale studied at Drexel University, before working in set design for film and music videos. He graduated from Kutztown University in 2009 with a degree in fine art and minor in political science.

Rodale works out of his home studio in Bethlehem.

Marlow Rodale, “21st Century Digital Boy,” through Aug. 18, David E. Rodale and Rodale Family Galleries, The Baum School of Art, 510 W. Linden St., Allentown. Gallery hours: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday (beginning July 10, 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Tuesday - Thursday), closed Saturday and Sunday. Information: 610-433-0032; https://www.baumschool.org/

“Gallery View” is a column about artists, exhibitions and galleries. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com

PRESS PHOTO BY ED COURRIER Marlow Rodale with his “What if Everything Around You Isn't Quite as it Seems” (2023; oil on canvas, 60 in. x 84 in.), “21st Century Digital Boy,” The Baum School of Art, Allentown.