June 2012

[caption id="attachment_1288" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Portrait by Annie Powers"][/caption] WHO: Legacy Russell Legacy asks of her work, "Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?" She creates "tangible constructions inspired by the often intangible landscapes of memory and identity, the objects that rise to the surface have escaped their original owners and serve the function of participating in wayward ceremonies of remembrance, iconography, and idolatry."  And we are thankful that she does. Legacy's critical, playful, artful examinations are the work of a committed woman whose production across a range of mediums is at once is intimate and universal, searing and comforting, ephemeral and concrete. Here is someone who has continuously engaged in the public sphere, creating and enabling community and connection, questioning and interrupting our visual and verbal culture -- yet who never ceases to turn the lens on herself, writing fiction and poetry with the deft quietude of the best hermits. Every inch the model of the AWESOME CREATOR, Legacy is tireless in her efforts, and has been very rightly been recognized as a force to be reckoned with (but also well loved and appreciated) by her peers -- one comes quickly to realize the great humility, kindness, and generosity of spirit in this young artist, one that is rare in someone on whom such accolades have been showered. Just this year she was recognized as one of the "10 Most Inspiring Young Artists in NYC Right Now" by Refinery 29, who had previously profiled her site specific, interactive piece, OPEN CEREMONY, begun in association with Trust Art in 2011.