The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Rachel Harrison Life Hack

Institution
Whitney Museum of American Art
Grant Cycle
Spring 2018
Amount
$100,000
Type of Grant
Exhibition Support

Since the early 1990s, Rachel Harrison has combined pop-cultural, political, and art-historical references in her work, creating a distinctive visual language that is multi-layered and full of mordant wit. Rachel Harrison Life Hack is the first full-scale survey to track the development of Harrison’s career over the past twenty-five years, assembling approximately one hundred works, including sculptures, photographs, drawings and installations, ranging in date from 1991 to the present. Harrison’s complex works incorporate everything from consumer goods to cement, with objects both made and found. Cans of olives, remote controls, NASCAR paraphernalia, and a restaurant meal appear in configurations that open up simultaneous and unexpected layers of meaning.  In her practice, Harrison brings together the breadth of art history, the impurities of politics, and the artifacts of pop and celebrity culture, conjuring unexpected, wryly humorous combinations and atmospheres that suggest allegories of the contemporary United States.


Rachel Harrison, Untitled, 2012. Colored pencil on paper, paper: 19 x 24 inches (48.3 x 61 cm), frame: 22 3/8 x 27 7/8 x 1 1/2 inches (56.8 x 70.8 x 3.8 cm). Private collection; courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photograph by John Berens
Rachel Harrison, The Classics , 2017. Colored pencil on pigmented inkjet print, paper: 17 x 11 inches (43.2 x 27.9 cm), frame: 23 1/8 x 17 1/8 x 1 1/4 inches (58.7 x 43.5 x 3.2 cm) Collection of the artist; courtesy Greene Naftali, New York, and Regen Projects, Los Angeles. Photograph by Elisabeth Bernstein
Rachel Harrison, Nice Rack , 2006. Wood, polystyrene, cement, acrylic, framed pigmented inkjet print (Hans Haacke's Ölgemälde, Hommage à Marcel Broodthaers, 1982), hardwood dolly, Hallmark greeting card rack, ergonomic snow shovel, fake peaches, bejeweled barrettes, and rotary telephone, 99 x 63 x 28 inches (251.5 x 160 x 71.1 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art; purchased with funds contributed by the Committee on Modern and Contemporary Art, 2008; courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photograph by Jean Vong
Rachel Harrison, I'm with Stupid , 2007. Wood, polystyrene, cement, acrylic, child mannequin, papier-mâché skull, green wig, festive hat, SpongeBob SquarePants sneakers, Pokémon Tshirt, wheels, canned fruits and vegetables, fake carrot, fake feathers, fake grass, Batman mask, cat mask, necktie, scarf, and plastic beads, 65 x 31 x 24 inches (165.1 x 78.7 x 61 cm). Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Agnes Gund and gift of Leslie Cheek, Jr., gift in gratitude of John Coolidge, anonymous fund in memory of Henry Berg, and William M. Prichard Memorial Fund; courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photograph by Sam Pulitzer
Rachel Harrison, Huffy Howler , 2004. Wood, polystyrene, cement, acrylic, Huffy Howler bicycle, handbags, rocks, stones, gravel, brick, one sheepskin, two fox tails, metal pole, wire, pigmented inkjet print, and binder clips, 84 x 84 x 30 inches (213.4 x 213.4 x 76.2 cm). Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; T.B. Walker Acquisition Fund, 2008; courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photograph by Jean Vong
Rachel Harrison, HOJOTOHO, 2012. Wood, polystyrene, cement, acrylic, and auger, 95 x 23 x 25 inches (241.3 x 58.4 x 63.5 cm). Maurice and Paul Marciano Family Foundation, Los Angeles; courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photograph by John Berens
Rachel Harrison, Hoarders , 2012. Wood, polystyrene, chicken wire, cement, cardboard, acrylic, metal pail, flat screen monitor, wireless headphones, runway carpet, and Hoarders Video, digital video, color, sound, 10:39 min (2012), 61 × 47 × 45 in. (154.9 × 119.4 × 114.3 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Greene Naftali, New York; courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photograph by John Berens
Rachel Harrison, Duck's Legs and Carrots , 2006. Wood, polystyrene, cement, acrylic, and framed pigmented inkjet print, 61 x 48 x 48 inches (154.9 x 121.9 x 121.9 cm). Private collection; courtesy the artist and Greene Naftali, New York. Photograph by Tim Nighswander/IMAGING4ART

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“The Warhol Foundation aims to support the full range of artistic activity in America—from exhibitions at major museums to neighborhood projects by artist collectives. Arts writers, through the range and specialization of their individual interests, touch upon all of this activity—illuminating and interrogating it and bringing it into conversation with the public. Support for artists is not complete without support for the circulation and serious consideration of their ideas. The Arts Writers Grant program keeps artists at the center of cultural dialogue and debate—in our opinion, right where they belong.”

Joel Wachs, President