Socrates Sculpture Park will present new works by Harrell Fletcher this spring in a special project entitled “This Container Isn’t Big Enough.”
The exhibit is a continuation of an ongoing thematic project that began in 2001 in Portland, Ore. and Malmo, Sweden. For this work, the artist walked through the Socrates neighborhood with local resident Raymond Denson who selected small objects found on the ground to be displayed in his hand. The artist filmed Raymond’s hand opening again and again, each time revealing an object — a found sculpture. The result is a compelling montage of images that are site-specific and oddly beautiful
Fletcher’s video, entitled “Hi There Friend,” will be screened in the Park daily from 4 p.m. to sunset. An accompanying publication, part of the artist’s project for the 2004 Whitney Biennial, will be available at the park and at the Whitney Museum of American Art through May 30.
In conjunction with this work, Fletcher’s students at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art have organized several projects in various venues throughout the city. One of these projects, entitled “Great Comfort Stuff” featuring artist Daniel C. Smith and organized by Njena Surae Jarvis, will be on view at The Peter J. DellaMonica Jr. Center for Seniors in Astoria from March 25 through April 25. The opening will take place on Friday, March 26 from 2-8 p.m. with live performances at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. by Brother Danielson and the Nine-Fruits Tree. For details about performance times and dates, visit www.danielson.info.
Fletcher was born in 1967 in Santa Maria, Calif. He received a fine arts bachelosr’s degree from the San Francisco Art Institute (1990), and a masters from the California College of Arts and Crafts (1994). For more than 10 years, Fletcher has worked collaboratively and individually on interdisciplinary, site-specific projects exploring the dynamics of social spaces and communities.
Along with this work, he has developed a series of more personal and idiosyncratic pieces that take various forms — drawings, prints, writings, events, videos, and sculptural objects. Fletcher has created exhibitions at museums, galleries, and alternative spaces throughout the United States and has been commissioned to produce public art projects in California, Washington, Minnesota, and Oregon.
Fletcher’s work is included in the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the De Young Museum, the Berkeley Art Museum, and the New Museum in New York. He has received numerous grants and residencies and has taught at several universities in the United States and abroad.
