Rachel Farbiarz: Take Me With You

September 20th – November 9th
2013

Opening Reception: September
20th, 6:00 – 8:00pm

Heiner Contemporary is
thrilled to present Rachel Farbiarz: Take Me With You, an exhibition featuring
new drawing, collage and installation by the DC-based artist. Take Me With You,
which will be on view September 20th through November 9th, reflects Farbiarz’s
interest in the personal, idiosyncratic resonances that course through shared
public, historical and political events. Using various media, she explores
subjects including formal apologies, migration, war and burial and investigates
how the emotional reverberations of words, objects and ideas linger and mutate
throughout generations.

Farbiarz is moved by the
syncretism of human experience and has said that her work is about trying to
think through continuities that persist—and discontinuities that reveal
themselves—over time and place. In Apology to the Forgotten Australians and
Former Child Migrants she invites viewers to experience the weight and beauty
of the words in a formal apology, demonstrating the way humanity can be deeply
inscribed in this official mode of communication. In her mixed media collages
and installations, Farbiarz pulls from disparate moments in history to weave
poignant compositions, often with subtle narrative undertones. In Memorial
Hill, she creates a massive processional of figures pulled from various
historical events, such as kamikaze pilots bowing before departing on their
missions and Irish Protestants parading with drums during “The Troubles.”
Utilitarian remnants like shovels, sandbags and ladders, but also flags,
banners, burial wreaths and signposts fill out the composition. While the
overall arrangement is striking, Farbiarz is perhaps most interested in the
minute details – the posture of a single figure, the choice relic carried by a
mourner. She feels compelled to bear witness to and conserve things that have
been discarded physically and emotionally. Repurposing these items, Farbiarz
aims to create something dignified and worthy of contemplation.

Rachel Farbiarz is an artist
living and working in Washington, DC. Her work has been shown in Washington,
DC; New York City; and Arlington, Virginia. Farbiarz also writes biblical
commentary and leads classes centering on creative and spiritual practice.
Prior to making art, Farbiarz practiced law, focusing on the civil rights of
prisoners and particularly on conditions at California’s death row at San
Quentin. She has a degree in Social Studies from Harvard College and a JD from
Yale Law School.