Virtual exhibit can be found here.

This exhibit begins with labor, becomes steeped in childhood experiences, and ends with a combination of the two. In direct response to the COVID pandemic, Holder addresses the struggle essential workers face carrying the weight of society while scrambling for survival. Visually stunning, these are her most recent works. The sentimentality and admiration of these pieces stand in contrast to a series of reminiscences from childhood, where the artist visually describes her journey of gradually acquiring social awareness. In the final section, we are reminded of the connection between international or global children’s labor.

Robin Holder’s work centers on the complexities and conflicts of cultural and racial identity. Over her career she has developed innovative approaches in her mixed technique works through a variety of media, which are often influenced by community dialogues and extensive artist interviews. She has completed several site-specific public art commissions, that were commissioned by: New Jersey Transit, The New York School Authority, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and 34 glass windows for New York City subway system. She is a 2020 Clark Hulings Fund for Artists Executive Fellow, the recipient of a Brooklyn Arts Council Individual Artist Grant and a Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation: Artist As Catalyst Grant. Her work is in such collections as the Library of Congress, Yale University, the Washington State Arts Commission, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. She lives in Brooklyn, NY and works from her studio in New Jersey.

This virtual exhibit was acquired for the archive collection of The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of The New York Public Library.

Image: Robin Holder, FIRST RESPONDERS WE’RE IN IT TOGETHER, x-ray technician, colored pencil, archival pigment print, 50 x 30 inches, 2020. Courtesy of the artist.