CIg harvey: feast
february 10 - may 3, 2024
PRESS RELEASE I IMAGES
“FEAST is a primal roar telling me not to waste a second, to be here now. Look at this. Experience this. Feel this. The pictures say that time is the only currency.” -Cig Harvey
Robert Mann Gallery is pleased to present Cig Harvey’s exhibition, FEAST, opening on Saturday, February 10, and on view through May 3, 2024.
The exhibition approaches the heart of the human condition, where stories hold secrets as dark as a chocolate-frosted cake pressed with blackberries. FEAST becomes a sensory experience of apples gracefully descending the tree and wisteria engulfing a lady swaying in satin.
Harvey delves into the science of color and explores taste and perception. The result is a photographic experience of wonder, unraveling the intricacies of how we engage with sight, light and feeling. Rooted in specific moments, her work transforms the mundane into a captivating conversation, for instance by exploring the quiet life of the coy and poisoned red berries no one dares to pick, while their color and texture tempt us to do just that.
Harvey introduces a delectable discourse in FEAST with the inclusion of cake—a staple at gatherings ranging from birthdays to weddings and funerals—encompassing time, mortality, and the senses. She joyously celebrates maximalist cakes, drawing inspiration from the imaginative, homemade creations of loved-ones. These cakes boast multiple layers, lavish frosting, and a decadent overflow of fudge. Within FEAST, Harvey plays with the placement of this treat, whether stowed inside a trunk floating down the river, passionately smashed upon a table, or glowing warmly with flickering candles amidst the embrace of darkness.
Concurrent with her solo exhibition at Robert Mann Gallery, Harvey is featured in a group exhibition at New York’s Fotografiska entitled Human / Nature. This exhibition delves into the complex and symbiotic connection between humanity and the
natural world.
Harvey's work is included in permanent collections of major institutions including the Library of Congress, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; the International Museum of Photography and Film at the George Eastman House, Rochester, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine; and the distinguished corporate collection of JPMorgan Chase.
Harvey earned distinction as one of the 2021 recipients of the Farnsworth’s Maine in America Award and was also awarded the title of the 2018 Prix Virginia Laureate, a prestigious international photography accolade in Paris. In 2023, Eat Flowers, a documentary film about Harvey by River Finlay, premiered at film festivals worldwide winning the Special Jury Prize at the Santa Fe International Film Festival for Documentary Short.
In FEAST, Harvey aspires for viewers to share in her initial experience upon discovering the images—the sensation that accompanies bearing witness to something rare. The palpable blend of desire and neon vigor in photographs encapsulates a lifetime of journeys, hopes, and perpetual curiosity.
Cig Harvey will join the gallery for a reception to celebrate the opening of FEAST on Saturday, February 10, from 4 - 6. The artist lives and works in rural Maine.
Instagram: @cigharvey
Please contact the gallery to schedule a viewing, or view the exhibition online, from February 10 - May 3, 2024. For additional information and press materials, please contact the gallery by email (mail@robertmann.com).
Cig Harvey’s photographic feast for the senses
By THe times
Two exhibitions in New York by the British-born photographer offer a dreamlike, magical exploration of the human condition.
Visit The Times for the full article.
Photographer Cig Harvey’s Latest Could Sit Nicely in a Museum of 17th Century European Still-Lifes
BY THE NEW YORK SUN
An appreciation for material sensuality filters through Harvey’s pictures. Textures are finely wrought; romantic portent is inescapable; and color ‘is a perception in the brain’ that she brings to almost otherworldly saturation.
CIG HARVEY GIVES THE BEST ADVICE TO THE INSTAGRAM PHOTOGRAPHER
BY Phoblographer
Feast’s photographs are pieces that feel like just another part of the great photographer. Cig’s images evoke an eerie beauty that is hypnotizing to look at because of their subtle complexity.
Visit Phoblographer for the full article.
FEAST review
by Musée Magazine
The collection asks that you step inside of it with a mind that is open to the peculiar. It is there, Harvey argues, that we can begin to access the secrets that reside with the story of an image.
Visit Musée Magazine for the full article.
Cig Harvey: Feast Press Release
BY L'ŒIL DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE
The exhibition approaches the heart of the human condition, where stories hold secrets as dark as a chocolate-frosted cake pressed with blackberries. Feast becomes a sensory experience of apples gracefully descending the tree and wisteria engulfing a lady swaying in satin.