Rachel Mason investigates political, scientific and historical systems through her handcrafted sculptures, video, and drawings. Inspired by classical forms of political art – the bust, anthem, and portrait – Mason re-imagines these art historical models of power, replacing their impenetrable quality with a personal expressionistic physicality. The preservation of her historical conceits reveals an insightful and absurdist character. Mason explains: “I am interested in the way the objects contain their precisely determined instant, as in, the moment of kissing, the moment of singing, the moment of transaction, and the viewer is inside the field of space to experience at length what cannot be stared at in most instances in the world.”

We first saw Mason’s work in a group show at the gallery’s former Williamsburg space—a video titled Model Anthem.