“The traditional hunting ground of Nut Island (Governor‘s Island ) was reportedly occupied in exchange for two axe heads, a string of beads and a handful of nails.”

“Hunting Ground” by Rebecca Farr with Emma Gray HQ Gallery in Los Angeles CA

Nestled in the servant’s quarters of Nada House. Rebecca Farr has centered her residency on objects of trade between the matriarchal society of the Lanape People and Wouter Van Twiller, the General for the Dutch West India Company in 1637. The traditional hunting ground of Nut Island (Governor‘s Island ) was reportedly occupied in exchange for two axe heads, a string of beads and a handful of nails.

Thus, marking the inception of this island as a military presence, which has served as an active landscape in every major battle fought on American soil since. This complicated and meager offering/ occupation has become the focus of my work. The Owl, a globally present master of hunting, and symbolic image of power, sight, silence and wisdom stands as a tall guardian of this black papered night space.

The close quarters of owls and objects of trade encounter the viewer in a meditation of memory, value, sacrifice, power and the nature of hunting. Farr is currently working in her Los Angeles studio to complete a series of oil paintings and final pieces of clay that will conclude this installation.

Rebecca Farr ( b 1973) Currently resides in Los Angeles, CA

Represented by Emma Gray HQ

Rebecca’s paintings rise from the concept of body through philosophical, and historical (mis) understandings. Paint glides between intuitive free mark making and classical impressionism in works that freshly express color line and texture. Her conversation of embodiment and the abstraction of meaning are at times a gritty wrestling match of thick paint and at others, light stokes in search of beauty. Symbols and narratives populate the paintings and function as markers, gathering the collective and the personal in a world in which the divides of mind and body are invited to fall away. Raised in the Pacific Northwest, and currently resides in Los Angeles. She has exhibited in Los Angeles at Klowden Mann, Five Car Garage, in Seattle at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, along with presentations at multiple art fairs throughout the United States. From 2015-17 she was a faculty artist in the education department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, overseeing multiple public projects. Her recent residencies include Kaus Australis in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Les Laboratories Aubervillers in Paris, France and NADA house on Governors Island, New York.

@R_F_A_R_R www.rebeccafarr.com @EMMAGRAYHQ https://emmagrayhq.com/CAVE-Rebecca-Farr