Robin Crookall
In Real Spaces, American artist Robin Crookall reimagines the interstices of domestic and urban spaces with nods to the history of photography. Contrasting photographic imposters with contrived images, the series consists of models that portray similar subjects explored by renowned photographers such as Gordon Matta-Clark, Lee Friedlander, and Robert Adams. Juxtaposed to these reproductions are artificial pictures structured to emulate Crookall’s own drawings. By contrasting replicas of previously photographed places with concocted ones, Crookall subverts attention and unravels truths. She blends the fantastical and the conventional, making the ordinary extraordinary.
The inspiration for this body of work is New York City’s boundless architecture and manifold man-made spaces, along with the constant flow of construction, demolition, and rebuilding. By replicating the surrounding world, Crookall attempts to unravel man’s folly in his constructed surroundings and deconstruct her perception of ownership. Recreating specific places in time, the photographs examine the dynamics of space and property and facilitate a narrative of reconstruction.
The exhibition will be on view from May 1, 2024, to June 26, 2024, by appointment Monday through Friday, from 9 AM to 6 PM.
To schedule a visit, email marketing@ma.com.
Robin Crookall is a contemporary American artist whose work is a blend of sculpture and photography. With a collage of elements, she creates scenes consisting of part fact and part aspect, resulting in uncanny images of small-scale architectural models. Crookall received her MFA from New York University and completed her BFA at the University of Washington. She is a 2021 finalist in The Print Centers, 95th Annual International Competition. In April 2021, she had a solo exhibition at Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT. In the fall of 2020, she completed a residency and solo exhibition at the Penumbra Foundation in New York City. Crookall is a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in photography from The New York Foundation for the Arts.
Crookall has participated in group exhibitions at Field Projects in New York, Candela Gallery in Virginia, Art Basel in Miami, Headlands Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Gallery 4Culture in Seattle, and Friesen Gallery in Seattle. Publications featuring her work include Artsin Square (2022), Musée Magazine (2021), Vast Magazine (2021), Real Art Ways Zine (2021), Indiefoto (2016), and The Seattle Times (2012). Crookall currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, and is preparing for a 2024 fellowship at LightHouse Works on Fisher Island, NY, a residency at Light Work in Syracuse, NY, and an exhibition at Catskills Art Space in Livingston Manor, NY.
For more information, visit robincrookall.com.