Rachel Harrison

Updated on Jan 27, 2024

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Name Rachel Harrison Role Visual artist		Education Wesleyan University Books Rachel Harrison

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Ponder - Dominic Wong

Rachel Harrison (born 1966, New York) is an American visual artist who is primarily known for her assemblage work and sculpture. Her work often incorporates elements of photography and found objects, sometimes layering abstract forms with industrially manufactured elements. She lives and works in New York.

Rachel Harrison BOMB Magazine Rachel Harrison and Nayland Blake

Nasher xchange rachel harrison

Early life

Harrison was born in 1966 in New York. Harrison's mother was born in New Jersey and her father was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were both of Polish and Russian Jewish descent. In 1989 she attained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art from Wesleyan University, where she was strongly influenced by two teachers, sculptor Jeffrey Schiff and composer Alvin Lucier.

Career

In 1996 Harrison had her first exhibition, entitled Should home windows or shutters be required to withstand a direct hit from an eight-foot-long two-by-four shot from a cannon at 34 miles an hour, without creating a hole big enough to let through a three-inch sphere?, at the Arena Gallery in New York City. In this show, Harrison established her predilection for producing sculptures that juxtapose a unique combination of found, purchased, and received items. Since then, her works have been fabricated using a wide range of materials, such as honey, cans of peas, papier-mâché, and trash bags. By using everyday goods and objects, Harrison frequently takes on the subject of consumer culture. She also often confronts popular culture and celebrity with her work. For instance, in her 2012 exhibition The Help, her pieces featured the singer Amy Winehouse and the artist Martin Kippenberger.

Rachel Harrison Rachel Harrison at Greene Naftali Contemporary Art Daily

In 2013, Harrison received her first public art commission for the sculpture Moore to the Point in the Dallas City Hall Plaza, part of the Nasher Sculpture Center's Nasher XChange exhibition. This piece points to and frames Henry Moore's sculpture, Three Forms Vertebrae near Dallas City Hall. The work calls attention to how people interact with works of public art.

Teaching

Harrison taught art classes at elementary schools for the nonprofit organization LeAp throughout the 1990s. She was hired by Columbia University in 1999, where she taught photography and later, sculpture. She has also taught in the art departments of Yale University, Cooper Union, and Bard College.

Select solo exhibitions

Should home windows or shutters be required to withstand a direct hit from an eight-foot-long two-by-four shot from a cannon at 34 miles an hour, without creating a hole big enough to let through a three-inch sphere?, Arena Gallery, Brooklyn, New York (1996)

The Look of Dress-Separates, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York (1997)

Patent Pending: Beveled Rasp Sac, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York (1999)

Perth Amboy, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York (2001)

Westward Ho, Bergen Kunsthalle, Gallery No. 5, Norway (2003)

New Work, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (2004)

Posh Floored as Ali G Tackles Becks, Camden Arts Centre, London (2004)

Excuse Me?, Arndt + Partner, Berlin (2004)

Lakta/Latkas, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York (2004)

Car Stereo Parkway, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow (2005)

Checking the Tires, Not To Mention The Marble Nude, Galerie Christian Nagel, Köln (2006)

When Hangover becomes Form, with Scot Lyall, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; LACE, Los Angeles (2006)

Sometimes it Snows in April, with Michael Krebber, The McCallister Institute, New York (2006)