Neesh Magazine No. 1 (Spring 2017)

Krakow has been developing the Arm Armature series for years. You may wonder what an armature
is. Maybe you’ve never noticed them, and that’s just the point. Though paramount to
museum display, they are made to be invisible. They hold items such as ancient pots, weapons
and historical costumes so viewers can get a better look. Krakow studies armatures, sculpts them
in clay, poses her arms to interpret them, and then stages a dialogue. The resulting pieces incorporate
ceramic forms holding nothing, and documents of her contorted hands mounted within
furniture-pedestals. Krakow’s work relates to Haim Steinbach’s use of displays, Bruce Nauman’s
recurring use of hand gestures, as well as the current hybridization of photography and sculpture.
Ellie Krakow received her MFA from Hunter College and BA from Prescott College, and attended
Skowhegan. In 2016, she had a solo exhibition titled Arm Armature at Nurture Art in Brooklyn.
Krakow has exhibited widely including solo exhibitions and performances at Spring/Break Art
Show, Skowhegan Project Space and Chuchifritos, as well as group shows at Field Projects, Nars
Foundation and Thierry Goldberg (all NYC), Interstate Projects and Present Company (Brooklyn).
Outside of NYC, Krakow’s work has been exhibited in China, Croatia, Germany and Puerto
Rico. Her artwork has been featured in BOMB, The Stranger, and Dossier Journal.