Rachel Stern
Lover’s Eye
Exhibition at A Hug from the art world
Lover’s Eye Exhibition
As the eighteenth century ended, the popular trend of 'miniature' portraiture took a turn. In aesthetic surgery, 'Lovers Eyes’ abandoned the entire visage of their subjects and instead zoomed in on an isolated eye. This trend by no means diminished their potential; it was quite the opposite. Pinpointing the gaze in such a way further highlighted human emotions. The resulting intensity of a bashful, lustful, jealous, or brokenhearted gaze underscored the role of how being seen is the primary site of desire. Lover's Eyes were a short-lived phenomenon; however, they were ultimately outmoded by the proliferation of photography. Lover’s Eye, Rachel Stern’s latest body of work, employs the classical media of painting, sculpture, and photography in complex tableaux. Stern romanticizes these pursuits within her camera’s field of view, thus favoring photography as the medium of desire. Chiaroscuro, perspective, and figuration are celebrated against a backdrop of Lover’s Eyes from the paintings of Ingres and Claude Cahun photographs. The exhibition addresses photography’s paradigm-shifting impact on the traditional artmaking practices of the late 1800s. It reenvisions the forsaken Lover’s Eye through photography’s unique doublings of sight and desire. When looking at Lover’s Eye, the work looks back.
Exhibition Dates: March 13, 2025 - April 26, 2025
Location:
A Hug From The Art World
515 W 19th St.
New York, NY 10011
About
Rachel Stern 2025, Photo by Matt Leifheit
Rachel Stern (b. 1989, NYC) is a photographer whose work considers the intersection of beauty and power. Her photo-based installations turn to the tableaux and the proscenium, creating a dialogue between the histories and uses of kitsch and leftist aesthetics. Using materials culled from strip malls and thrift stores, she creates images that ask art and visual culture to enter into a discourse of accessibility and, in the spirit of ‘bread and roses,’ demand immediate access to beauty. Her work images a world that might be built out of the world that is. It is a kitsch paradise, a queer-washed history, and an attempt at hope. She received her BFA in Photography and the History of Art and Visual Culture in 2011 from the Rhode Island School of Design. She attended Skowhegan in 2014 and graduated from Columbia University in 2016 with an MFA in Visual Arts. She has exhibited her work at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Baxter St., Brandies University, Ortega Y Gasset Project, Invisible-Exports (now New Discretions), and Asya Geisberg Gallery, among others. Her work has been featured in BOMB, The Brooklyn Rail, Interview Magazine, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, Vice, Hyperallergic, and Matte Magazine. She regularly contributes photo illustrations to the New York Times and is an Assistant Professor of Photography at Union College.
