Fritz Scholder - Later Exhibitions

Later Exhibitions

In 1994, Leonard Baskin invited Scholder to collaborate on a major book at Gehenna Press in Massachusetts. Scholder returned to Arizona and established his private press, Apocrypha. He then retreated to the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. The following year, two major shows opened, The Private Work of Fritz Scholder at the Phoenix Art Museum and a year-long exhibition, Fritz Scholder/Icons and Apparitions, at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts in Arizona. Scholder began the Millenium series and worked in London, Paris and Budapest.

In 1999 Scholder completed Future Clone, an eight foot tall bronze sculpture, described by ArtDaily as "androgynous angel figure" which exhibits "the same agitated, textural touch" that Scholder brought to his paintings. He produced his first digital book, Thoughts at Night, in 2000. That year Scholder returned to Santa Fe to open an exhibition Alone/Not Alone at Chiaroscuro Gallery. In October, 2001 a major exhibition of paintings and sculpture regarding death and skulls titled, Last Portraits, at the Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota, opened in Duluth. In March 2002, Chiaroscuro Galleries in Scottsdale opened a major show titled Orchids and Other Flowers, Scholder’s reaction to 9/11. Scholder is the 2002 Arizona Governor’s Award recipient.

Unlike many artists, Scholder was keenly aware of the impact of recognition he received; this was especially true with respect to his inclusions in books and magazines. Rightfully, he pointed out that once his contributions were named and illustrated in hard copy---later to be treated as reference materials--- his place in art history would be relatively secure. His selection of appropriate galleries was likewise conscious, although throughout his career, he remained loyal to one of the first galleries to believe in his work, the Tally Richards Gallery in Taos, New Mexico. For several years, Tally's gallery routinely sold out its annual offerings of Scholder's work, helping to keep this gallery afloat for the remaining 11 months.