Rachel Feinstein (artist) facts for kids

Rachel Feinstein (born May 25, 1971) is an American artist. She is famous for creating sculptures. Her art often looks like something from a fairy tale or a dream. One of her well-known sculptures is "The Snow Queen," inspired by a story from Hans Christian Andersen.

Rachel Feinstein's art has been shown in many places. She has had over two dozen art shows in the United States, Europe, and Asia. She is married to another artist, a painter named John Currin. In 2011, a newspaper called them a "ruling power couple" in the art world.

Early Life and Art Training

Rachel Feinstein was born in Fort Defiance, Arizona. She grew up in Miami, Florida. Her father was a skin doctor, and her mother was a nurse. Rachel became interested in art when she was in elementary school. She took private art lessons and also learned from her grandmother, who was an artist.

She went to Columbia University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993. There, she studied religion, philosophy, and art. In the same year, she also studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. Rachel was inspired by many famous sculptors, including Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Antonio Canova.

Rachel Feinstein's Art Career

Rachel Feinstein's art was first shown in 1994. This was at a group show called the Sonnabend Gallery Artist Invitational. That same year, she created a "Sleeping Beauty's gingerbread house" for an exhibit. She even slept inside it!

In 1999, she was working at an art gallery. The gallery owner saw her sculpture sketches. The owner was so impressed that she gave Rachel her first solo art show.

In 2002, Rachel and her husband, John Currin, made a book together. It was called The Honeymooners, John Currin and Rachel Feinstein. They showed their art in Hydra, Greece.

Rachel's art has been shown in many countries. In 2006, her work was displayed in France. In 2007, she had her eighth solo show in London, England. In 2008, she released a special book of her art from the past ten years.

In 2019, Rachel Feinstein had her first solo museum show in the United States. It was called "Maiden, Mother, Crone" and was held at the Jewish Museum in New York.

Rachel's unique style has also inspired fashion. In 2004, fashion designer Marc Jacobs created a clothing collection based on her art. She was even photographed for his advertising campaign. Her home was also featured in a magazine because of its stylish look.

Exploring Rachel Feinstein's Artworks

Rachel Feinstein uses different materials for her art. She paints with oil on glass. She also makes sculptures from plaster and carved wood. Her art often mixes fancy, old-fashioned styles like Rococo and Baroque with themes from fairy tales and Disney movies. People have said her work creates a "fantasy-land."

In 2000, her art was shown at the Whitney Museum in New York and the Barbican Centre in London. Her first solo show in 2001 was inspired by her travels to palaces in Germany and Austria.

In 2004, she showed a sculpture called "The Crucifixion." It was made of plywood and showed four life-sized figures. One reviewer said her work was "startling" and "fresh."

In 2005, she created a show featuring older women in fancy costumes and wigs. She painted them on glass and had them photographed. She was inspired by the character Miss Havisham from the book Great Expectations. Rachel said she was thinking about beauty and being a mother at that time.

In 2007, she created a large steel statue of a horse and rider. It was called "Cuatro" and was inspired by Don Quixote. This six-meter-high statue is now part of a public art project in South Korea.

Her 2008 show, "Puritan's Delight," mixed many different ideas. It combined art history, cultural history, and modern life.

In 2010, Rachel was asked to create an award for a fashion fund. She designed it as a swan, which she described as "a pure, elite thing." She made 20 bronze awards for the ceremony.

In January 2011, her show "The Snow Queen" opened in New York. It brought together different art styles to tell the story of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale. The show included painted wooden toy soldiers, roses, and a golden coach displayed outside in the snow. A magazine said she creates a "magical universe of her own."

In 2012, Rachel Feinstein created a "twisted paper castle set" for a Marc Jacobs fashion show. It looked like a "decayed Walt Disney castle." Rachel said her work is "rococo with a nasty underside."

From 2012 to 2013, she had her first art show in Rome, Italy. For this show, she created a large wallpaper of Rome's history. It was painted on mirrors and shown with life-sized wooden sculptures.

Some important art collectors have bought Rachel Feinstein's works.

Rachel Feinstein's Perspectives

Rachel Feinstein and her husband, John Currin, have unique views on art. They believe that making art is a very personal way to express yourself. This idea fits with their political beliefs, which focus on individual freedom.

Both Rachel and John have talked about how women artists are sometimes judged differently than men in the art world. Rachel believes that people sometimes judge her unfairly based on how she looks, in a way they don't judge male artists.

Personal Life

Rachel Feinstein met John Currin at an art exhibition in 1994. They got married three years later on Valentine's Day. Rachel and John have two sons and a daughter.

Rachel has often appeared in John Currin's paintings. She has been called his "muse," meaning she inspires him. People describe Rachel as "warm, energetic, and open." John Currin has said that Rachel has helped his career a lot.

A friend of the couple once said that John seems "very macho," and Rachel seems "super-feminine." But when it comes to art, John does very detailed work with brushes, while Rachel uses tools like a chainsaw in her studio. This mix of their personalities is part of what makes them interesting.

Exhibition History

Solo exhibitions:

• Rachel Feinstein: Maiden, Mother Crone, Jewish Museum (Manhattan), New York, NY, 2019
• Rachel Feinstein: Secrets, Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA, 2018
• Folly, Madison Square Park Conservancy, New York, NY, 2014
• Rachel Feinstein, Gagosian Gallery, Rome, Italy, 2012
• Rachel Feinstein: The Snow Queen, Lever House Art Collection, New York, NY, 2011
• Rachel Feinstein, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY, 2008
• Tropical Rodeo, Le Consortium, Dijon, France, 2006
• Art in the Atrium, organized by Art Production Fund, Sotheby's, New York, NY, 2002
• White Room: Rachel Feinstein, White Columns, New York, NY, 1999

Selected group exhibitions:

• People, Jeffrey Deitch, New York, NY, 2018
• SEED, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY, 2018
• Naturalia, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY, 2017
• The Seven Ages of Woman, Performa, New York, NY, 2016
• No Longer / Not Yet, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2015
• More Material, Salon 94, New York, NY, 2014
• L’Almanach 14, Le Consortium, Dijon, France, 2014
• The Little Black Dress, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA, 2012
• Something About Mary, The Metropolitan Opera, New York, NY, 2009
• John Currin and Rachel Feinstein, Hydra Workshop, Hydra, Greece, 2002
• Greater New York, Museum of Modern Art PS1, New York, NY, 2000
• Let the Artist Live, Exit Art, New York, NY, 1994