12" x 18"
archival pigment print
Limited edition of 25, 2017
Accompanied by certificate of authenticity signed and numbered by the artist
Charred matches and a cigarette butt, the verisimilitude of which prompts an olfactory response; smoke, tar. Crumpled tissues and college-ruled papers punctuated by grocery lists, sell-by dates, and circular Made in China stickers. The mundane collection of items that create a narrative and define a life are endlessly enlivened by Rachel Hecker throughout her body of work. In her recent solo exhibition, Exhibition Title Goes Here, at yours mine & ours gallery (New York), Hecker showcased her technical ability via airbrushed renderings of the aforementioned objects, as well as demonstrated her cinematic understanding of character by illustrating the non-linear collection of images and references which amount to a personality.
Hecker's paintings simultaneously evoke distance – the artist's hand is absent in the airbrushed objects that are uncannily recontexualized in the case of human-sized air fresheners and gumdrops as big as a watermelon – and closeness, given the intimately derived subject matter. In our two new editions by Hecker, available separately and exclusive to Exhibition A, the mega-utilitarian seasoning packets are imbued with a meditative quality, as we are confronted with the desire to slow down and truly see what is otherwise ubiquitous, thus realizing the reflective magnitude of painting's potential.
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