Richelle Rich

SFA Advisory is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in New York City by the British-Swiss multidisciplinary conceptual artist Richelle Rich. Somewhere Something Incredible Is Waiting to Be Known, curated by Aelish Donohue, features a selection from the artist’s most recent bodies of work, Comeflor and Critical Mass. “Comeflor” is a South American term to describe weak politicians that translates to “eats flowers.” Critical Mass is a fragmented narrative creating a personal mythology of artifacts that form a cabinet of small, still-life curiosities. The exhibition debuts a new format for the artist, a smaller scale offering a more intimate perspective into her practice, shown alongside her usual large-scale photographs.

While the works may initially seem decorative, they are encoded with a personal, political, and cultural subtext. Photographs of deadly poisonous flowers, mannequins, and cracked eggshells document Rich’s experience as an artist, activist, mother, and wife. Already concerned with unrest and social inequity, the work takes on deeper meta-narratives when shown in the context of the US overturning of Roe v. Wade and the ongoing fight for reproductive justice. Several of the works reflect the artist’s concerns about feminist issues. For instance, the artwork Breakages Must Be Paid For depicts a bowl custom-made from glass found in a shipwreck at the bottom of the North Sea, containing vibrant flowers of edible nasturtiums and deadly poisonous oleander, while Not For Everyone, an image of a pink 1960s quilted dressing gown pocket, holds forest detritus at its center. Designed to be hung in pairs, groups, or grids to create expanding narratives, the images are simultaneously seductive and repellant.

“The objects I focus on in these works are a stand-in for my everyday experiences, it’s how I make sense of it all, the past, present, and future. I take elements of my own personal journey, some of what I'm consuming and living through on a daily basis and find parallels or cultural narratives to help me explore all of that in a material way. It's never just one story I'm referring to, it's an amalgam."

—Richelle Rich

Rich created this body of work in 2020 during the pandemic while locked down at her home in Los Angeles. She was limited to photographing objects found in her home. Rich describes herself as a hoarder. She collects objects, ephemera, and other traces of life, examining them through her lens to uncover stories. The discarded becomes sacred through the ritual of her obsession with documentation. Rich is fascinated by the intersection of trauma and transcendence and the ways in which our stories, emotions, and memories magically contaminate objects. She aims to create images that give form to the stories we cannot find the words for, making the unspeakable tangible.

“Somewhere Something Incredible Is Waiting to Be Known is both a feminine and feminist show. While Richelle’s works might at first appear decorative, there is something so much more powerful about her images that tackle the female experience of both trauma and transcendence. In her first NY show, it’s a quietly forceful presentation that we are confident collectors will be excited to see.”

—Aelish Donohue

Richelle Rich is a British-Swiss multidisciplinary conceptual artist born in London in 1967. Rich moved to Los Angeles in 2014, where she is now based, with her musician husband, Harry Waters, and their two young sons. She is the creator and curator of The Art House Joshua Tree. Rich received her MA from the Royal College of Art in 1997 and BA from Central St Martins in 1995. Formerly represented by Hirschl Contemporary Art in Cork Street in London, she had three large solo shows in England and group shows throughout Europe shortly following graduation. Previous solo exhibitions have been held at Michael West Gallery, Isle of Wight (2003); Hirchl Contemporary Art, London (2002): Standpoint Gallery, London (2001). She has participated in several group exhibitions, including Get a Loom, Soft Core LA, Los Angeles (2019); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London (2018); Bombay Beach Biennale, California (2013); Chelsea Fringe, Great Western Studios (GWS), London (2012); Crash, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London (2002); Paupers Publications, Standpoint Gallery, London (2001); Figure 8, Pump House Gallery, London; Life - A Users Manual, NCK, Gdansk (1999); Lana House, London (1998); Good Art, Corbett Place, London; Comic Narrative Art, Oldham Art Gallery (1997); Almost Edible, Bath Contemporary Art Gallery, Bath (1996); and The Great Escape, Lana House, London (1995), among others.