Rachel Farbiarz:
Take Me With You

Rachel Farbiarz: Take Me With You
September 20th – November 9th 2013

Rachel will be working in the gallery:
Thursday, September 26th 2-4PM
Friday, September 27th 2-4PM
Saturday, September 28th 2-4PM
Thursday, October 3rd from 2-4PM
Friday, October 4th from 12-2PM

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. For the duration of the show, Farbiarz will also be working on-site to create a new work on paper, Making an Apology, which will document the evolution of a long-awaited apology by the Australian prime minister to that country's indigenous peoples.

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.