Kaare Rafoss recycles an array of motifs seen in Abstract and Pop art genres, by juxtaposing different time periods that serve as a critique of American Modern Art. His current work focuses on the time-worn surfaces found in studio classrooms, suggesting an unknown collective art form.

Born in Norway, Rafoss holds degrees in painting from Pratt Institute and the Yale School of Art. Rafoss has received grants from the State University of New York, the New York State Arts Council (C.A.P.S.), the National Endowment of the Arts, and the New Jersey State Council for the Arts.

He has had solo exhibitions at the Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden, Norway, Trans Hudson Gallery, NYC, the Flemming Museum, Burlington, Vermont and SUNY College at Cortland, New York. His participation in group exhibitions has included: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musee d’Orsay, Paris, Kunst Markt, Cologne, Germany, and Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Norway, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, Whitney Biennial, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas, Montclair Art Museum, NJ, Jersey City Museum, Reese Paley Gallery, NYC, Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg.

Rafoss’ works are in the collections of Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas, Rutgers University, New Jersey, United California Bank, Los Angeles, Omni International Hotel, Atlanta, Erie County Bank, Buffalo, New York. He was born in Flekkefjord Norway, and immigrated to the United States at the age of fifteen. Rafoss lived and worked in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was a Professor of Art at SUNY-Rockland. The artist passed away on May 8, 2024.