Rachel Feinstein X Gagosian
In classical architecture, women quite literally take on supporting roles. For her current exhibition Fates at Gagosian in Athens, artist Rachel Feinstein drew inspiration from monumental caryatids, columns and pillars in the form of female figures. The approximately 190-centimetre-tall figures Helen and Petra are among the central works in the exhibition and were created in the majolica workshop of Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg. Over the course of ten days, the American artist worked together with the manufactory’s craftspeople to translate her designs into this monumental scale.
“The fact that artists and craftspeople can work together so closely here in the workshop is something very special,” says Ingrid Harding, product developer at Nymphenburg. At a height of 190 centimetres, working with terracotta becomes a demanding technical and sculptural undertaking. The figures are built up, hollowed out and then reassembled. Every decision has to take into account how the material will behave as it dries and later during firing. “It is not simply a matter of enlarging the 60-centimetre models. Proportions and details continue to change during the process,” Harding explains. One of the particular features of Nymphenburg’s majolica workshop is that figures of this scale can be accommodated in its kilns at all.
The painting was also carried out in Nymphenburg and requires an exceptionally steady hand. The colour is applied directly to the already fired material; once painted, it can hardly be altered. The painters therefore have to work with great precision and decisiveness, while the artist must trust that her ideas will be faithfully translated in the workshop.
The mutual appreciation between Rachel Feinstein and the manufactory is rooted in many years of collaboration and began with an earlier project for Gagosian Los Angeles. At the time, the task was to create complex Rococo plinths, something entirely new for the workshop. Rather than advising against the project, the team took on the challenge and developed solutions during the process for forms for which there was no previous experience. Over the years, projects such as these have built up a particular expertise, evident in Britannia for Gucci, for which Feinstein herself painted at Nymphenburg, and in the porcelain project Secrets.
Helen and Petra, too, only fully developed into the figures now on view in Athens during their time in the majolica workshop. With their plinths and architectural capitals, they reach an imposing overall height of around 2.40 metres. While Helen refers to Helen of Troy, Petra is a reference to Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1972 film The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. With these two female figures, the artist and the manufactory’s craftspeople have created works that bring the tradition of the ancient caryatid into the present.
Read more about the collaboration between the artist and Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg here: A trip to Nymphenburg, Munich’s porcelain paradise
Rachel Feinstein: Fates
Gagosian, Athens
from 24 September 2026
