Rachel Feinstein (artist) facts for kids

Rachel Feinstein, born on 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, with a fancy, old-fashioned style called "baroque." One of her well-known sculptures is "The Snow Queen," inspired by a story from Hans Christian Andersen.

Rachel Feinstein's artwork has been shown in many exhibitions. She has had over two dozen group and solo 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 Education

Rachel Feinstein grew up in Miami, Florida. Her father was a skin doctor, and her mother was a nurse. She 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.

In 1993, Rachel graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She studied religion, philosophy, and art there. In the same year, she also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. After college, she studied with artist Kiki Smith in New York. Rachel has said that she was especially inspired by famous sculptors like Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Antonio Canova.

Art Career Highlights

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

In 1999, Rachel was working as a receptionist at the Marianne Boesky gallery. The gallery owner, Marianne Boesky, saw some of Rachel's sculpture sketches. She was so impressed that she offered Rachel her first solo art show. The gallery has shown Rachel's work three times since then.

In 2002, Rachel Feinstein and her husband, John Currin, published a book of their artworks. It was called The Honeymooners, John Currin and Rachel Feinstein and included an interview.

Rachel's art has been displayed in many places around the world. In 2006, her work was shown in Dijon, France. In 2007, she had her eighth solo show in London, England. In 2019, Rachel had her first solo museum exhibition in the United States. It was called "Maiden, Mother, Crone" and was held at the Jewish Museum in New York.

Rachel Feinstein's unique style has also influenced the world of fashion. In 2004, fashion designer Marc Jacobs created a clothing collection inspired by her. She was even photographed for his advertising campaign. Her home, which she shares with her husband, has also been featured in a famous design magazine.

Artistic Creations

Rachel Feinstein uses different materials for her art, including oil paint on glass, plaster, and carved wood for her sculptures. Her art often mixes fancy, old-fashioned styles like Rococo and Baroque with themes from fairy tales and Disney stories. People have described her work as creating a "baroque fantasy-land."

In 2000, Rachel's art was part of exhibitions at the Whitney Museum and the Barbican Centre in London. Her first solo show in 2001 was inspired by a trip she took to beautiful palaces in Munich and Vienna.

In 2004, Rachel showed a large wooden sculpture called "The Crucifixion." It showed four life-sized figures. One art reviewer said that her work was "startling" and "fresh."

In 2005, Rachel created a show featuring older women dressed 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 getting older, especially since she was pregnant at the time.

In 2007, Rachel created a tall steel statue of a horse and rider called "Cuatro." It was inspired by Don Quixote and became part of a public art project in South Korea. It stands six meters (about 20 feet) high.

Her 2008 show, "Puritan's Delight," combined many different ideas. It included elements from art history, different cultures, and modern life. Some pieces included dancing satyrs, an avenging angel, and wooden sculptures of horses.

In 2010, Rachel was asked to design an award for a fashion competition. She created a beautiful swan award, which she described as "a pure, elite thing."

In January 2011, Rachel opened her show "The Snow Queen" in New York. This exhibition brought together different art styles to tell the story of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale. It featured painted wooden toy soldiers, roses, children, and ice. There was even a golden coach displayed outside in the snow. A Vogue magazine reviewer said that Rachel "explores the themes of fantasy, ruin, and beauty to create a magical universe of her own."

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

From late 2012 to early 2013, Rachel had her first exhibition in Rome, Italy. For this show, she created a large, dream-like wallpaper of Rome, showing different historical times. It was painted on mirrors and displayed with life-sized wooden sculptures.

Rachel Feinstein's artworks have been bought by many important art collectors.

Rachel's Thoughts on Art

Rachel Feinstein and her husband, John Currin, have unique views on the art world. Rachel has said that the art world in New York can be very protective. She mentioned that some people didn't like it when her work was featured in fashion magazines like Vogue, thinking it meant she wasn't a serious artist.

Both Rachel and John believe that making art is a very personal way to express yourself. They also have political views that are a bit different from many people in the New York art world.

Rachel has shared her thoughts on fashion: "Fashion is at its best when a woman and her outfit work together to make you stop and stare just like a great painting. Art should look amazing regardless of where it is, whether it is in a collector's home or a museum." She believes that both fashion and art need to understand their own strengths.

Rachel has also talked about how female artists are sometimes judged differently. She feels that she is sometimes judged unfairly based on her appearance, in a way that male artists are not.

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, sometimes as a recognizable face and sometimes as a model for bodies. 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 my career tremendously."

A photographer friend once said that while John seems "very macho and old-fashioned" and Rachel "super-feminine," in their art, John does very detailed work with brushes, while Rachel uses tools like a chainsaw and goggles in her studio. This mix of their personalities and artistic styles is seen as part of their unique charm.

Exhibitions

Here are some of the places where Rachel Feinstein's art has been shown:

Solo Exhibitions

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

Group Exhibitions

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