Rodney Zelenka
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Rodney
Zelenka

Panamanian painter, born 1953. Lives and works in Panama.

Rodney Zelenka has painted full time since 1980. He works in acrylic, ink, gold leaf and metal pins on canvas and handmade paper, and in sculpture, installation and video. His subjects are power, migration and human dignity.

Migration Under Red Rain
Migration Under Red Rain, 2019. Acrylic on canvas. 190 × 160 cm.

Most recent exhibition

All exhibitions

Night Travelers

Lichtundfire, New York, USA
March 4–28, 2026

Curated by Priska Juschka

Zelenka's third solo exhibition at Lichtundfire, 175 Rivington Street. The opening reception was held on March 11 and a walk-through and conversation with the artist on March 24.

Exhibition page

Selected works

All works
Formally Zelenka succeeds extraordinarily by merging realism with abstract non-descriptive pictorial space in a convincing and intriguing combination.
Mary Hrbacek, Whitehot Magazine, November 2022

Exhibitions since 2022

Full CV
  1. 2026 Night TravelersLichtundfire, New York, USA
  2. 2025 Personalidades desubicadasVitrinas culturales, Metro Zócalo/Tenochtitlan, Mexico City, Mexico
  3. 2025 Estéticas de la CoerciónCasa de la Primera Imprenta de América, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City, Mexico
  4. 2025 Suitcase StoriesGalería del Centro Cultural Teatro García Carrillo, Festival Internacional de las Artes, Saltillo, Mexico
  5. 2024 Semiotics of a SpiderLichtundfire, New York, USA
  6. 2024 Suitcase StoriesGalería Juan Manuel Cedeño, Ministerio de Cultura, Panama City, Panama
  7. 2024 Un Mundo ActualFacultad de Artes Visuales, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Nuevo León, Mexico
  8. 2023 Rivers of BabylonLichtundfire, New York, USA
  9. 2023–24 A Ras de SueloMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Querétaro · Museo Metropolitano de Monterrey · Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
  10. 2022 Dominion and FrailtyTenri Cultural Institute, New York, USA
  11. 2022–23 Mística SocialCentro Estatal de las Artes (CEART) Tecate · Ensenada · Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

For curators and press

CV Solo and group exhibitions since 1980, biennials, awards and bibliography. Images and captions High-resolution images on request, with captions and credit lines. Biography Long and short biographies and the artist's statement.