EXHIBITION IMAGES | WORKS | PRESS RELEASE
Halsey McKay is pleased to present its first solo exhibition of Hilary Harnischfeger’s sculptures and paintings densely packed with hydro-stone, ceramic, paper and mineral fragments. Heavily influenced by the mysterious Indian mounds surrounding her studio in Newark, Ohio, in the past, Harnischfeger ignored the symbolic and spiritual properties associated with the minerals in her works. Curious about the less tangible nature of these stones, for East Coast Crush, she now looks to their histories, as well as formal properties, and incorporates this lore into her practice. Phenomenon such as the seven-day moon cycle and polar vortex physically and conceptually inform the works which are embedded with, and constructed around, selenite, amethyst, quartz and porcelain.
“Broken as Harnischfeger’s forms seem, their magic is in how things manage to come together.
Surface, support, material, and media are frustrated here. Tracing the outlines of irregular cavities and negative
spaces, like a scavenged patchwork of bones, reveals the tectonics of the structures. Fragments and shards of
glazed motifs collapse into misshapen entry- ways, which Harnischfeger leaves vacant or packs tightly with
tinted plaster embedded with minerals or stacks of hand-dyed paper.”
– David Norr, Senior Curator, Wexner Center for the Arts
Hilary Harnischfeger lives and works in Newark, Ohio and recently relocated to Brooklyn, NY. She received a MFA from Columbia University and BFA from University of Houston. Recent two person and solo exhibitions have been with Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, Native Cleveland Annex, Ohio, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC, Neverwork Gallery, New York. She has participated in several group shows, among them shows at Galerie Lelong, Artists Space, and Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York; Southfirst Gallery, Brooklyn; Ballroom Marfa, Texas and Grimm Fine Art, Amsterdam. Harnischfeger is represented by Rachel Uffner Gallery.