Feb 5th 2015

Inside New York's Art World: An Interview with Hilary Harkness

by David W. Galenson

Dr. David W. Galenson is Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago; Academic Director of the Center for Creativity Economics at Universidad del CEMA, Buenos Aires; and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. His publications include Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity (Princeton University Press, 2006) and Conceptual Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Art (Cambridge University Press and NBER, 2009). David W. Galenson, picture aboce. Derek Walcott, picture in the text.

David Galenson: In our earlier interview, you said that living in New York was very important to you. How long have you lived in New York, and have your reasons for living there changed over time?

Hilary Harkness: I moved to Manhattan from San Francisco in 1999 three years after getting an MFA from Yale School of Art. San Francisco had given me the headspace to paint without career-related distractions, but I was ready for a gallery and New York seemed to be the place. My first solo show was in 2001, and by 2003 I was with Mary Boone Gallery. New York City is a good match for me. My practice is solitary and time-intensive and I need to make the time spent out of the studio count. Living here makes seeing a wide variety of art and connecting with other artists easy, which is essential to me.

2015-01-22-BlueNude100dpiCLEAN.jpg
Hilary Harkness, Blue Nude (2014). Images courtesy of Hilary Harkness.

DG: For decades, artists and critics have complained that the cost of living in New York was becoming too high for it to continue as a real center for working artists. How do you and other artists you know feel about this?

HH: My experience of New York has never been inexpensive, but the cost of living here is outweighed heavily by the benefits - namely, access to the entire spectrum of the art world - this is a city that has a deep bench of talent represented in each area including artists, collectors, dealers, curators and critics. There may be less expensive places to live, but for now this proximity is priceless for me.

DG: What are your favorite museums in New York? Are there particular paintings that have influenced you, or that you simply like to go back and see?

HH: The Metropolitan Museum of Art is beginning to feel like a second home to me. My painting obsessions are continuing to evolve over time, but one constant for me is Ingres' portrait of the Princesse de Broglie in the Lehman collection. The expressive brushwork that went into creating her skirt sustains the illusion of fabric even at a very close viewing range. I get as close as I dare and let my brain toggle back and forth between the illusion of the skirt and the reality of the paint. It's mind-bending. I'd be curious to see a scan of my brain while I'm looking.

2015-01-22-PortraitofthePrincessedeBroglie.jpg
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Portrait of the Princesse de Broglie (1853).
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

DG: What are the most memorable exhibitions you've seen in New York?

HH: Glitter and Doom at the Met - it introduced me to the paintings of Christian Schad, whose artworks show up in at least two of my paintings (Matterhorn and Pomeranian Line). The Steins Collect at the Met - I saw the Matisse's Blue Nude in person and have been able to draw on that experience in my recent paintings Blue Nude and Blue Nude With Blonde as well as when I co-curated Roy Lichtenstein: Nudes and Interiors at FLAG Art Foundation. Concordia, Concordia by Thomas Hirschhorn at Gladstone Gallery - The gallery was transformed into a wrecked cruise ship listing on its side. It was one of those magical moments for me as a viewer where the individual elements came into focus at different moments, but then at a certain moment the whole became clear. It's hard to describe how great that is to experience.

2015-01-22-PomeranianLine2007.jpg
Hilary Harkness, Pomeranian Line (2007).

DG: Do you collect the work of other artists?

HH: I do. I have works by Nan Goldin, Kalup Linzy, Tracey Emin, Will Cotton, David Humphrey and a number of emerging artists.

DG: How do other cities you know, in the US or Europe, compare to New York as art centers? What cities do you most like to visit? Where would you live if you left New York?

HH: London is full of vitality and The National Gallery keeps me returning. I spend much more time in Paris though - I enjoy visiting the boulangeries before popping into the museums and shops. And there's nothing like capping off a busy day with some wine and cheese. If I left New York for a considerable amount of time, it would most likely be to travel rather than to settle down. A while back I spent a month traveling around southern India. If I had a second home it'd be in Wainiha on the north shore of Kauai. The dramatic scenery and moody, changeable weather make it a visually stimulating place and one where I've found inspiration for some of my paintings such as Flipwreck and one that is in progress now.

2015-01-22-flipwreckmediumfile_0.jpg
Hilary Harkness, Flipwreck (2004).

DG: How do you feel about the art world that's written about in the newspapers - the superstar artists and dealers, and the enormous prices? Do they affect other artists, or are they irrelevant to you?

HH: The art world is occupied by a huge range of artists - emerging and established - who are being captured by all forms of media, including social. Just as technology has given artists additional outlets for making and sharing work, it has provided writers with access to artists and artworks across the globe and expanded the dialogue. It can be overwhelming to keep track of it all, but it's also an exhilarating moment.

2015-01-22-Matterhorn_2003.jpg
Hilary Harkness, Matterhorn (2003).

DG: What are some things you like in the New York art world that tourists don't know about - for example, museums or galleries that are not well known?

HH: FLAG Art Foundation in Chelsea is free to visit and usually has two shows going on at once. They show everyone from emerging artists to superstars. One thing that makes FLAG special is that they regularly select artists and other notable people to curate, which allows for exhibiting a wide range of art works. For instance, Shaquille O'Neal curated a show called Size DOES Matter in 2010. This past spring I co-curated Roy Lichtenstein: Nudes and Interiors with British artist Ewan Gibbs. In 2013, FLAG put on an exhibition of my cross-section paintings, bringing together a dozen years of my work. It is an intimate and welcoming environment, which is conducive to spending time with art.

2015-01-22-BlueNudew.Blonde8bit_0.jpg
Hilary Harkness, Blue Nude with Blonde (2014).

DG: Are there bars or restaurants where artists meet?

HH: In Chelsea I'll meet up with people at Sullivan Bakery for pizza and a glass of wine before or after visiting galleries. When I'm going to Lower East Side galleries I'll either begin with dim sum at Jing Fong on Elizabeth Street, or finish with at Pho Bang on Mott Street.

DG: How has the New York art world changed during the time you have been there?

HH: There are so many galleries it's hard to keep track of them all. Among artists there is a greater sense of possibility and joie de vivre, and as a result it feels livelier than it has at other points in my career.




     

Browse articles by author

More Essays

Jun 27th 2020
An essay about the "the enormously influential 1940 'Head of Christ' painting by evangelical Warner E. Sallman" pictured below.
Jun 17th 2020
EXTRACT: "The diverse, non-human life forms that live in our guts – known as our microbiome – are crucial to our health. A disrupted balance of these contribute to a range of disorders and diseases, including obesity, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease. It could even affect our mental health..... It’s well known that the microbes living in our guts are altered through diet. For example, including dietary fibre and dairy products in our diets encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria. But mounting evidence suggests that exercise can also modify the types of bacteria that reside within our guts."
Jun 13th 2020
EXTRACT: "Bonhoeffer’s life holds an important lesson for us today, regardless of our religious affiliation or lack thereof. And simply put it is this: you are called upon; you are called on behalf of your neighbor. When you are called to be responsible that is not an obligation which you can decline, discharge or acquit yourself of – it is an infinite responsibility, a “forever commitment” as Charles Blow recently put it. And we all must be prepared to make any sacrifice necessary when we are called."
Jun 11th 2020
EXTRACT: "People differ substantially in how much they’re affected by experiences in their lives. Some people seem to be more affected by daily stress, or the loss of someone close to them. On the other hand, some people seem to get through the same experiences relatively unscathed. Similarly, some people benefit strongly from counselling, or having a support system of close family and friends. Others seem better able to manage on their own. But understanding why some people are more sensitive than others isn’t just a question of how they were raised, and the experiences they’ve been through. In fact, previous research has found that some people in general seem more sensitive to what they experience – and some are generally less sensitive."
Jun 7th 2020
EXTRACT: " The root causes of anthropogenic climate change – which has led to the endangering of countless species across the globe – cannot be adequately grasped in isolation from the technological application of modern science. While Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was certainly justified in calling upon American legislators to “unite behind the science,” neither can we overlook the culpability of science in bringing about the environmental crisis. "
May 23rd 2020
EXTRACT: "The QAnon movement began in 2017 after someone known only as Q posted a series of conspiracy theories about Trump on the internet forum 4chan. QAnon followers believe global elites are seeking to bring down Trump, whom they see as the world’s only hope to defeat the “deep state.” OKM is part of a network of independent congregations (or ekklesia) called Home Congregations Worldwide (HCW). The organization’s spiritual adviser is Mark Taylor, a self-proclaimed “Trump Prophet” and QAnon influencer with a large social media following on Twitter and YouTube."
May 23rd 2020
EXTRACT: "The aim of my research for the Understanding Unbelief programme was to investigate the worldviews of non-believers, since little is known about the diversity of these non-religious beliefs, and what psychological functions they serve. I wanted to explore the idea that while non-believers may not hold religious beliefs, they still hold distinct ontological, epistemological and ethical beliefs about reality, and the idea that these secular beliefs and worldviews provide the non-religious with equivalent sources of meaning, or similar coping mechanisms, as the supernatural beliefs of religious individuals."
May 22nd 2020
EXTRACT: "Psalm 91, for example, reassures believers that God will protect them from “the pestilence that walketh in darkness… A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee”.............Luther was a devout believer but insisted that religious faith had to be joined with practical, physical defences against sickness. It was a good Christian’s duty to work to keep themselves and others safe, rather than relying solely on the protection of God. "
May 22nd 2020
EXTRACT: "Evidence from this study shows clearly that eating foods rich in flavonoids over your lifetime is significantly linked to reducing Alzheimer’s disease risk. However, their consumption will be even more beneficial alongside other lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, managing a healthy weight and exercising."
May 5th 2020
EXTRACT: "It’s possible that the answers to questions like, “how do I live a virtuous life?” or “how do we build a good society?” are not the same as they were a few weeks ago."
May 2nd 2020
EXTRACT: "Strangely, those with strong beliefs tend to be admired. The human mind hates uncertainty, so it is comforting to be told what to think, and to form settled opinions. But it is not rational. As the philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote: “The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
Apr 21st 2020
Extract: "Humans, Boccaccio seems to be saying, can think of themselves as upstanding and moral – but unawares, they may show indifference to others. We see this in the 10 storytellers themselves: They make a pact to live virtuously in their well-appointed retreats. Yet while they pamper themselves, they indulge in some stories that illustrate brutality, betrayal and exploitation. Boccaccio wanted to challenge his readers, and make them think about their responsibilities to others. “The Decameron” raises the questions: How do the rich relate to the poor during times of widespread suffering? What is the value of a life? In our own pandemic, with millions unemployed due to a virus that has killed thousands, these issues are strikingly relevant.
Apr 20th 2020
Extract: "If we do not seize this crisis as a moment for transformation, then we will have lost the war. If doing so requires reviving notions of collective guilt and responsibility – including the admittedly uncomfortable view that every one of us is infinitely responsible, then so be it; as long we do not morally cop out by blaming some group as the true bearers of sin, guilt, and God’s heavy judgment. A pandemic clarifies the nature of action: that with our every act we answer to each other. In that light, we have a duty to seize this public crisis as an opportunity to reframe our mutual responsibility to one another and the world."
Apr 16th 2020
EXTRACT: "Death is the common experience which can make all members of the human race feel their common bonds and their common humanity."
Apr 7th 2020
EXTRACT: "A crisis such as this one demands that we exercise what the philosopher Immanuel Kant called the ‘public use of reason’ – as opposed to merely the ‘private use of reason’ where, briefly put, the expert, the specialist is tasked with resolving a defined problem. The private use of reason is sufficient when we are dealing with a problem that can be solved by simply applying the appropriate expertise...............The public use of reason asks: how we are defining the problem? Is our definition – our conceptualization of the problem – perhaps part of the problem itself? Is this pandemic solely a problem of public health, or is it also a problem of extreme economic inequality? ..............Since this crisis began, the greatest failure of the administration is not the denial, the lies, the lack of preparedness, but the inability to rally and unify the nation against this common threat, the lack of genuine leadership – Trump’s utter inability to bring the nation together."
Apr 5th 2020
EXTRACT: "Rarely has an architectural experiment aroused such extremes of ire and admiration. One side is convinced the house is a masterpiece. The other expresses brutal condemnation of the entire project (leaky roof, danger of flooding, too-hot, too-cold interiors depending on the American Midwest weather).........Farnsworth encapsulated her personal ambiguity in her comment to a Newsweek interviewer: “This handsome pavilion I own is almost totally unworkable.” She told one journalist, “ … all I got was this glib, false sophistication. The conception of a house as a glass cage suspended in air is ridiculous.”
Apr 1st 2020
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Effects of Good Government fresco, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.
Mar 29th 2020
EXTRACT: "The coronavirus crisis has forced us to look at our behaviour in a way that we’re not used to. We are being asked to act in the collective good rather than our individual preservation and interest. Even for those of us with the best of intentions, this is not so easy."
Mar 23rd 2020
EXTRACT: "In March 2020, my sister Nancy and I did something that, as scholars, we had never done before: we wrote about ourselves, comparing our own experiences receiving cancer care on either side of the Atlantic. As we recently reported in the BMJ, much of our experience is similar. As twins, we both have the same form of cancer. Both of us received excellent treatment in well-established university teaching hospitals. Both of us are now in remission. But there is a glaring difference. Nancy lives in the US, covered under a good private healthcare scheme. I live in the UK, covered by the NHS."
Mar 21st 2020
EXTRACT: "In philosophy, individualism is closely linked with the concept of freedom. As soon as restrictive measures were imposed in Italy, many people felt that their freedom was threatened and started to assert their individuality in various ways. Some disagreed with the necessity of cancelling group gatherings and organised unofficial ones themselves. Others continued to go out and live as they always did. We often assume that freedom is to do as we choose, and that is contrasted with being told what to do. As long as I am doing what the government tells me, I am not free. I am going out, not because I want to, but because that shows I am free. But there is another route to freedom..........."