This Miami Art Week, renowned conceptual artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian opens the doors to her new studio, with an intimate presentation of artworks from her oeuvre to date. A collaboration with curator Bakul Patki, Perception takes a fresh look at works that explore how we see and judge ourselves, paradoxes of beauty, and the struggles inherent in the pursuit of success.
Artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian says,
"Transforming a first-floor office space in Miami Beach into my art studio has been a wild ride. I've carved out a creative sanctuary and playground where every room reflects a different ongoing project. This space, nestled away from the ocean's edge, is very different from any studio I have ever worked in.
Miami inspires, art breathes, and every room hums with diverse energies. Opening the doors of the studio along with the vision of dynamic London Curator Bakul Patki feels like the perfect launch, and an opportunity to present a thought-provoking exploration of perception and reality.”
Yearning for a space in which she could freely experiment and play at scale, Hovnanian has gutted a 6000 ft office in the heart of Miami Beach, recommissioning it as just such a site. The main room has been reimagined as a sculpture garden, inspired by the Italian landscapes where the artist often works and has regularly exhibited, including as part of Venice Biennale 2022. Using synthetic fauna, Hovnanian again plays with the idea of perfection and the lengths we go to achieve it. Photographs from the ‘Too Good To Be True’ series and a number of ‘Narcissus’ reliefs are installed throughout the studio. With a professional espresso barista taking up residence, the artist offers a calm, convivial escape from the intense bustle of the fairs, inviting the curious to join her for coffee, cantucci, and conversation.
Curator Bakul Patki says,
“I’m delighted to be working with Rachel on the inaugural project in her new studio. It’s been a real pleasure diving more deeply into her work, which intelligently and insightfully interrogates the personal, political and societal pressures that influence identities - particularly those of women. The gutted office has become a canvas for Rachel’s cathartic expression - a physical and metaphorical breaking apart of constructs that have confined and defined women throughout time.
It’s been fascinating to learn more about Rachel’s experiences growing up as a tomboy who didn’t conform to expectations of being the ‘perfect girl’ and later, having graduated from art school, as an Art Director working on beauty accounts at McCann Erickson. These experiences inform and contextualize the wry commentary running through a practice that consistently shines a spotlight on the role beauty and perceived beauty play – whether as a means of controlling women or enabling them to take back control.
Some of the works presented in Perception have not been seen in the US before, and most have never been exhibited together. By bringing this selection together now, my hope is that viewers will connect with individual pieces and the exhibition as a whole, in new and meaningful ways – that the stories Rachel tells through her art will resonate even more profoundly.”
Pieces dotted throughout the garden include a previously-unseen ‘Body Armor’ sculpture, from the series of the same name, which explores how feminine beauty has been the main avenue through which women could gain power in America’s male-led society. Forged from bronze, the work draws a parallel between medieval battle armor and the bathing suit - articles of clothing that are associated with self-augmentation and pageantry.
A pair of 8ft tall ‘Beauty Queen Totems’ - supersized manifestations of characters that recur in the artist’s work – stand guard. Placing such dominant female figures in this context becomes a symbolic act - reclaiming space and dismantling historical power struggles that have overshadowed women in both the art world and corporate spheres.
As the studio and presentation took shape, Hovnanian and Patki worked closely together together to realize an exhibition that examines the impact of patriarchal masculinity on female identity, the journey from narcissism to body modification and transhumanism, and - the predominant theme in the artist’s practice - the urgency to share our stories.