ARTIST: RA FRIEDMAN
Art Histories are highly curated presentations of an artists’ life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come.
RA Friedman is an accomplished artist whose work involves the interplay between the objectivity of the camera and the subjectivity of the hand made. Adept at photography, drawing, and recrafting older technologies, Friedman’s work melds the human figure’s ability to convey intimate and complex states of being with the expressiveness of mark making and time-based discovery. Deeply introspective as well as collaborative, his work gives voice to our personal, artistic, and collective histories.
Friedman’s current focus, The COVID-19 Portrait Project, seeks to honor and memorialize the thousands of Americans lost to the virus. Working from obituary and family provided photographs, Friedman has gained national attention for drawing portraits of COVID-19 victims as a means of documentation and artistic dialogue. While RA does not personally know the individuals, he spends time with them, in silence, at his easel, with the light traces captured by the camera. Feeling that he is not so much looking at them, but into them, his portraits invite us to think about who they were, what their lives were like, and how America failed them. Their faces, their spirits, burned into our memories. Incorporating the drawings and the voices of loved ones into projection-based installations, Friedman memorializes individual lives and reflects in dialogue with their humanity.
“I navigate a unique interplay between the mechanical objectivity of the camera and the subjective world of thought, feeling, and memory engendered by the hand crafted.”
COLLECTION: The Trouble I’ve Seen:
The Covid-19 Portrait Project, USA
Click on an image to expand
Artist Statement
Using the power of photography, drawing, and recrafted analog technologies, I give voice to personal, artistic, and collective histories. I navigate a unique interplay between the mechanical objectivity of the camera and the subjective world of thought, feeling, and memory engendered by the hand crafted. I meld the human figure’s ability to convey intimate and complex states of being with the expressiveness of mark making. I allow imagery to change, evolve, and challenge me. I enlist the energies of the public to expand the scope of my projects and create new dialogue. Meaningful bits and pieces find me through experiments that span long periods of time. With deep introspection, I work, reshape, and orchestrate them to discover new points of departure.
PRESS
© RA Friedman, “American Lost to Covid-19, 7 6 2020”, Drafting lead on acid free drawing paper, 7.5” x 6.5, 2020
Amie Potsic interviews RA Friedman about his Philadelphia COVID-19 Portrait Project, which memorialized Philadelphians lost to the virus. Friedman discusses how to bring a portrait alive from minimal photographic sources and how others can get involved and collaborate on his project.
Artist Talk with RA Friedman
InLiquid mobilizes and makes accessible the visual arts culture of the greater Philadelphia region. Click the video to watch the full segment featuring Friedman.
Philly Artist Draws Pictures of Those Lost to Coronavirus
A Philadelphia artist is marking the memories of those lost to coronavirus by sketching their images. NBC10’s Pamela Osborne shares RA Friedman’s story.
Interview of RA Friedman
Ashleigh Walters of WPTV West Palm Beach interviews RA Friedman on his artistic approach to honor the lives lost in our communities to Covid-19
Highlights Include:
This artist has been on a mission to draw Philadelphians claimed by coronavirus. Now he’s looking for others to help.
Written by Stephan Salisbury
Image of the Artist, RA Friedman © Photo courtesy of Jessica Griffin, Photographer, The Philadelphia Inquirer staff
‘Everyone is special to someone’: Philly artist enlists others to draw portraits of COVID victims
Written by Peter Crimmins
The COVID-19 Portrait Project seeks to document those who died of COVID-19. Artist RA Friedman began with Philadelphians then expanded the project to include other artists and all U.S. residents. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
A Window into the Pandemic
InLiquid Gallery and RA Friedman present
The Trouble I’ve Seen
Written by Dara McBride
Friedman's art displayed on the gallery wall shows the breadth of all he and 28 project artists of various styles captured.. Photo courtesy of RA Friedman
Leaving a mark:
RA Friedman exhibit in Olde Kensington memorializes COVID-19 victims through obituary portraits
Written by Melissa Komar
RA Friedman, The Trouble I’ve Seen: The COVID-19 Portrait Project, USA, Installation image, 2022. Photo Credit: Amie Potsic
© RA Friedman, “American Lost to Covid-19, 10 28 2020”, Drafting lead on acid free drawing paper, 7” x 7”, 2020
To acquire artwork from RA Friedman’s collection, email info@amiepotsicartadvisory.com.
Click here to download RA Friedman’s CV.
To learn more about the artist: www.rafriedman.com
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