For many people, personal identity flows naturally from their families, the objects they grew up with, and the physical place they are rooted in. These small puzzle pieces connect to construct one’s personality and sense of self. For others, notions of self and identity are more fluid and mysterious—a sum total that is somehow different from its constituent parts. Artist Rich Harrington has spent his career grappling with his own identity and the ways it has been shaped by popular culture.
Harrington digs into his early life experiences by constructing physical and metaphorical spaces to understand his own developing identity and his search for place within the family structure and society. For Fissure, Harrington revisits preconceived notions of gender roles and the popular culture that reinforces them. By appropriating imagery and text that once affirmed conventional ideas of gender, Harrington disrupts their original context, creating a conceptual fissure: a space where the dominant narrative fractures, allowing overlooked, suppressed, or alternative narratives to emerge. The fissures encourage viewers to question inherited assumptions and reconsider the cultural narratives that shape identity.
About the Artist:
Rich Harrington was born in Binghamton, New York. He earned a BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University in 1980 and an MFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1993. From 1978 to 1979, he studied in London with the partners of Pentagram Design Ltd. and faculty from St. Martin College of Art and Design. Harrington’s work examines how popular culture shapes identity, referencing toys, games, teaching materials, and icons from his youth. Using painting, sculpture, video projection, and assemblage, he reassigns familiar images and texts to reveal alternative narratives, creating intersections of memory, meaning, and belonging.
Rich Harrington
Richy jumps for joy, 2025
Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 inches
Courtesy of the artist
Banner Image:
Rich Harrington
Queen of Jacks, 2021
Acrylic on board, 48 x 31 each
Courtesy of the artist
Rich Harrington: Fissure is part of the Everson CNY Artist Initiative, an exhibition program that celebrates the multi-faceted talents of regional artists. The CNY Artist Initiative is made possible with support from Sandra Hurd and Joel Potash.
The Everson is supported by the General Operating Support program, a regrant program of the County of Onondaga with the support of County Executive, J. Ryan McMahon II, and the Onondaga County Legislature, administered by CNY Arts; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
