Rachel Harrison will give a talk at the John Tishman Auditorium at the New School on Wednesday March 25 at 6:30. Public Art Fund Talks is a series of discussions and presentations by some of today’s most influential contemporary artists. The program is organized by Public Art Fund in collaboration with The Vera List Center for Arts and Politics at The New School.
Rachel Harrison is well known for her conceptual works constructed from combinations of found objects and handmade creations. Employing multiple mediums at once to create forms both abstract and figurative, she presents an array of clues and many layers of meaning in her work. Such was true in her 2007 exhibition If I Did It at Greene Naftali Gallery in New York , which was composed of 10 mixed media sculptures and Voyage of the Beagle, a series of photographs. Referencing the ancient menhirs featured in her photographs, Harrison titled her vertical structures after a curious ensemble of notable men, including Johnny Depp, Tiger Woods and Fats Domino, whose forms and varied objects evoked endless associations and connections. The photographic piece, whose title refers to the boat in which Charles Darwin traveled, was hung in a specific sequence and consists of portraits of diverse figures, from prehistoric Corsican sculptures to stuffed animals to Beyoncé Knowles. Prompting a deeper level of thought from viewers, Harrison ‘s work reflects her interest in the act of experiencing an art object and the path that one takes towards comprehension.
