“Rachel Feinstein: Maiden, Mother, Crone,” the Jewish Museum
New York, NY
Selldorf Architects designed the exhibition for the first retrospective of the artist Rachel Feinstein’s work in the United States, at the Jewish Museum in New York. The exhibition is divided into three distinct spaces following the chronology and themes of Feinstein’s life and work, which lend the show its name: Maiden, Mother and Crone.
The first space you encounter upon entering features the early work of Feinstein, which is youthful and optimistic about what life may hold; it is visually the brightest room, with white walls, white pedestals for the sculptures and natural light.
The second space, in the middle of the exhibition, is enclosed and womb-like with both videos and sculptures on display. The third space is the darkest and inspired by the Baroque – an era that Feinstein finds both beautiful and terrifying. Sculptures are arranged on dark grey pedestals in reference to a garden of the period, and the walls are covered with “Panorama of Rome,” a reproduction of a smoked-mirror wallpaper of Roman monuments that she had originally installed in the Italian city. The organization of the exhibition creates order and clarity, leaving space for the art and visitors to interact comfortably.
For more, see a review of the exhibition in the New York Times.
(Artwork © Rachel Feinstein. Photography Credits: Tom Powel Imaging)
