Greene Naftali
Publication
The Classics
Greene Naftali, New York.
$45
Hardcover
Color
82 pages
13.75 in x 9.5 inches
Essay by Paul Chan
9780578657226
Artist Page
Rachel Harrison has long been engaged with the relationship between sculpture and photography. In a recent body of work, the artist takes note of the ways in which the camera has framed our experience of Greek sculpture to illustrate ideal form. Using a pink Sharpie and working from reproductions in books, she made a series of line drawings of Classical and Hellenistic sculptures. Returning to that sketchbook years later, she photographed the pages, enlarging them to create backgrounds for additional drawings. These works on paper, collectively titled The Classics, feature distinct layers of marks that occupy discrete and overlapping planes within a single sheet, emphasizing Harrison’s multidimensional approach to conceiving any form. The exhibition catalog reproduces the series—begun in 2017 and exhibited at Greene Naftali in 2020—with an accompanying essay by Paul Chan.