Rena Small Explained

Rena Small (born 1954) is an American conceptual artist who works primarily in photography, selective painting and Language Art components.^[1] Small is best known for her ongoing series the Artists' Hands Grid Continuum, https://www.artforum.com/picks/rena-small-4581, consisting of mostly black and white photographs, some with selective hand-painted details and 21st Century Color Ink Jet images, of the hands of prominent 20th and early 21st American artists.^[2] She began the project in 1984.^[3] The project is a life work and will end when Small's life does too. "Artists' Hands highlights portraits of hands, not faces, as another reservoir of personal expression. I choose artists who have accomplished strong bodies of work over a period of decades. To me, hands are a study of the human soul reflected in the mirror of my camera." Rena Small 2023 https://renasmall.com

Collections

• George Eastman Museum^[4]
• J. Paul Getty Museum^[5]
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art^[6]
• Norton Simon Museum^[7]
• Princeton University Art Museum^[8]
• RISD Museum^[9]
• Seattle Art Museum^[10]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Art review: Rena Small at Jancar. July 22, 2010.
2. Web site: Review: An absorbing look at the hands of artists. March 21, 2014. Los Angeles Times.
3. Web site: Life. January 9, 1996. Time, Incorporated. Google Books.
4. Web site: Works | Rena Small | People | George Eastman Museum. collections.eastman.org.
5. Web site: Rena Small (American, born 1954) (Getty Museum). The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles.
6. Web site: Johnny Carson's Curtain Series | LACMA Collections. collections.lacma.org.
7. Web site: Browse By Artist » Norton Simon Museum. www.nortonsimon.org.
8. Web site: Andy Warhol (2013-77). artmuseum.princeton.edu.
9. Web site: Richard Misrach Artists' Hands | RISD Museum. risdmuseum.org.
10. Web site: Rena Small – Artists – eMuseum. art.seattleartmuseum.org.