First published 2019
Rachel Harrison creates sculptures that blend found objects with handmade elements to explore celebrity culture, pop psychology, history, and politics. David Joselit examines twenty-five years of Harrison's practice in this comprehensive study, the first major monograph on the artist in nearly a decade. Harrison integrates everyday materials into room-sized installations, upends museum display conventions, and makes ordinary objects feel alien. The book centers on detailed documentation of her major works, series, and exhibitions, showing objects from multiple angles with accompanying texts. Six essays trace her development from earliest pieces to recent output. Harrison created new photo-collages specifically for this publication, layering found images with reproductions of her past work. These previously unpublished pieces appear here for the first time. The book accompanied Harrison's Whitney Museum exhibition from October 2019 to January 2020, offering readers thorough insight into an artist whose eclectic approach challenges contemporary art's recycled ideas.
Genres: art, contemporary, 21st-century, art-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unconventional-protagonist
Period: 21st-Century
282 pages · Hardcover · Whitney Museum of American Art