Rick Prol was born and raised in NYC where he currently lives and works. He attended Cooper Union College in 1980 and began showing his work publicly in 1982 – during the then burgeoning East Village art scene. “The East Village art scene of the 80’s thrived on the romance of slumming in an era of widespread economic prosperity. Rick Prol was an icon of that era, known for his cartoonish tableaux of mayhem, murder and suicide set in a rat-infested world somewhere east of First Avenue”- Eleanor Heartney, July 1993 Art in America.

Prol’s work exemplified and helped define with “anarchical impudence” the more dangerous and harrowing aspects of urban reality with images both horrific and absurd and also with a touch of humour. In the March 2004 issue of Art in America, Edward Leffingwell affirms Prol as the “Veteran Master of Gothic Angst.” Prol utilizes a language that is accessible and direct, but also filled with sly and knowing art historical references. To this day Prol’s aesthetic employs Art Brut Expressionism to convey images of human folly and suffering in a variety of media including – sculpture, installations, paintings, drawings and writings. Presently, Prol is writing a blog on his personal history and growth as a leading figure in the East Village art scene of the 1980’s to the present. This Blog will eventually be produced as an E-Book.

Since 1983, Rick Prol has curated many group shows, with the most recent in 2004.

In June 2012 Prol had a major retrospective at The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill,NY which spanned the period from the early 1980’s to the present. Works included sculptures, paintings, window constructions and works on paper.

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022
* ONLINE: Rick Prol: Empty City ,James Fuentes, New York ,Lower East Side, New York, USA
2021
* Rick Prol: Cracked Window ,Leeahn Gallery, Seoul ,Seoul, South Korea
2015
* Rick Prol: Under the Stars ,The Dorian Grey Gallery ,New York, USA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
* Metamorphosis ,Hal Bromm Gallery ,Lower Manhattan, New York, USA
2017
* Exuberant 80s: An East Village Painters Circle ,Johannes Vogt ,Upper East Side, New York, USA
2014
* Witness – The Cedar Tavern Phone Booth Show ,Westbeth Gallery ,Greenwich Village, New York, USA
2013
* James Romberger & Rick Prol ,The Dorian Grey Gallery ,New York, USA
Rick Prol is an American Postwar & Contemporary painter who was born in 1956. Numerous key galleries and museums such as James Fuentes, New York have featured Rick Prol's work in the past.Rick Prol's work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from 200 USD to 1,533 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork. Since 2010 the record price for this artist at auction is 1,533 USD for Black cars, (2001), sold at Fidesarte in 2023. Rick Prol has been featured in articles for Whitehot Magazine and The New York Times. The most recent article is New York Art, 1980s Underground at Contra Galleries written for Whitehot Magazine in February 2019.
Artist Record Prices
The 2023 record price for Rick Prol was for Black cars, (2001)
The 2022 record price for Rick Prol was for Large dada Head
The 2021 record price for Rick Prol was for Untitled
The 2018 record price for Rick Prol was for Senza titolo
The 2015 record price for Rick Prol was for Untitled
The 2013 record price for Rick Prol was for DEAD TIME
The 2010 record price for Rick Prol was for Coke

(cf. LinkedIn; mutualart.com)