Arlene Rush: The Purity of Art and Being

An intimate journey into the work of a multidisciplinary artist who transforms vulnerability into strength and silence into presence

Sometimes an artist arrives in your life unexpectedly. That is how I first encountered Arlene Rush, not through grand exhibitions or public conversations, but almost by accident. What began as a simple discovery quickly unfolded into a deeper, more personal exploration. As I read, researched, and immersed myself in her work, I realized I was standing before something rare: a real artist, one who embodies both purity of expression and the fragile, often uncomfortable truth of existence.

(Photo credit: www.arlenerush.com)

Arlene Rush is a conceptual multidisciplinary artist whose work inhabits the complex space between feminist ideology, political engagement, and a relentless inquiry into identity. Her art does not float above reality; it emerges directly from it. Themes of gender, identity, and equality have shaped both her personal and professional life, becoming the raw material of her practice. But Rush doesn’t turn these inquiries into declarations, she turns them into encounters.

From Chelsea’s Early Days to Global Recognition

Rush’s artistic journey began long before her name appeared in the art world’s critical conversations. A pioneer in Chelsea, New York, opened her first studio in 1986 on West 26th Street, directly across from the West Chelsea Arts Building, a space she has continued to occupy since 1995. Long before Chelsea became the epicenter of the global art market, Rush was already building her quiet, persistent body of work there, rooted not in commercial trends, but in honest investigation.

Presumptions of Power, 2024, Resin, gems, vinyl lettering, acrylic, canvas, and rubber on canvas, 11” h 9” w x 1” d (Photo credit www.arlenerush.com)

Over the years, her art has traveled far beyond those studio walls. She has exhibited extensively in museums, universities, and galleries around the world. Her work is held in an impressive number of collections, including the 9/11 Memorial & Museum Artist Registry, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York), the Museum of Modern Art Wales (UK), the Museu Brasileiro de Escultura (São Paulo), and the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), among many others.

Recognition came organically, through the resonance of her work rather than the machinery of promotion. Along the way, Rush received the Carole Eisner Award for Sculpture (2020), the Rauschenberg Medical Grant (2025), the Pat Hearn & Colin De Land Foundation Grant (2011), and an early residency in Barcelona, Spain from CFEVA (1988). Today, she also serves on The Creative Center’s Advisory Council, contributing not only through her work but through her ongoing presence in the artistic community.

Her art and voice have been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Huffington Post, Wall Street International, The New Yorker, Art Fuse, ANTE Magazine, ArtDependence Magazine, and many others. Yet even amidst this growing recognition, she remains profoundly anchored to her own path: one driven not by visibility, but by meaning.

The Fragility That Defines Us All

At the core of Arlene Rush’s work is an unflinching engagement with the fragility of existence itself. As she explains:

“My work focuses on death, aging, and the fragility of the body on a social, political and personal level; revealing a fearless engagement with the cycles of existence.”

Her art moves into spaces that many avoid, the inevitability of aging, the vulnerability of the body, the unspoken dimensions of identity that quietly govern our social lives. But rather than dramatizing or simplifying these subjects, Rush approaches them with extraordinary clarity. Her pieces, often minimalist in form, pulse with quiet intensity, balancing elegance with emotional weight.

Days After IV 2022 Giclee Archival Print, Edition 1 of 5, 1 AP 39h x 29 w (Photo credit www.arlenerush.com)

The female body, the queer body, the aging body, each becomes a territory of exploration, not to demand sympathy, but to offer visibility. Within her sculptures and installations, Rush allows these fragile realities to stand with dignity, stripped of spectacle but rich with truth.

Feminism as an Ethical Practice

Rush’s feminist sensibility runs throughout her work, not as a slogan, but as a constant ethical compass. Feminism here is not performative or opportunistic, it is embedded, subtle, and unrelenting. Her art questions not only how women and marginalized identities are represented, but how visibility itself is constructed and controlled.

Me Too 2020 Resin, flock velvet, wood board, metal gold leaf, crystals, and digital archival collage 12" h x 12" w x 1 ½" d  (Photo credit www.arlenerush.com)

What makes her feminism so powerful is its refusal to be boxed into rhetoric. She exposes what is unjust and what remains hidden, but never through didacticism. Instead, her work becomes an invitation for dialogue, reflection, and acknowledgment.

Political Without the Noise

Arlene Rush’s art is deeply political but never shrill. She addresses systemic bias, exclusion, and inequality without resorting to easy narratives or oversimplified moral positions. Instead, she trusts the viewer to meet her work with attention and sensitivity.

Her pieces do not seek to overwhelm but to quietly expose the often-invisible systems that shape our lives. In this way, her work becomes not just art, but a form of slow, steady activism, one that creates space for honesty rather than spectacle.

Evidence of Being: A Personal Encounter

Among Rush’s most emblematic works stands Evidence of Being, a project in which she transformed decades of personal rejection letters into an extraordinary conceptual archive. This work deserves, and will receive, a dedicated essay of its own. It resonated with me on a deep personal level and has helped me reflect on my own journey as an artist and human being.

Evidence Of Being Detail (Photo credit www.arlenerush.com)

But while Evidence of Being often serves as an entry point into her practice, it is not the totality of her art. Arlene Rush is not simply the artist of rejection, she is the artist of existence. Her entire body of work, across sculpture, installation, and conceptual practice, reveals her true essence: the courage to see and reveal life as it is.

The Purity of Her Presence

What I found in Arlene Rush is what I search for in art and rarely find: purity, not as sterile perfection, but as integrity. An art that speaks honestly, emerges organically, and remains rooted in life rather than spectacle.

She expresses it best herself:

“What matters most to me is creating work that cultivates dialogue revealing what is unjust and what often remains hidden.”

All I Hear is the Symphony 2023-2024 Mixed media on panel 6" h x 6" w x 1 ¾"d (approx. each work), Overall Dimensions: 23" h x 31" w x 2" d (Photo credit www.arlenerush.com)

That is exactly what her art accomplishes, without theatricality, without pretense, but with unwavering truth. Her works are not designed for applause or controversy, but for those who are willing to pause and listen.

My Unexpected Encounter

Looking back at how I discovered Arlene Rush, almost by accident, I now see that I encountered not just an artist, but an artistic philosophy, a presence, a way of being. Her work has accompanied me with reflections that go far beyond art itself, touching on questions of vulnerability, resilience, identity, and dignity.

In Arlene Rush, I discovered an artist who does not seek the comfort of being seen everywhere. Instead, she builds a space where those who are searching can truly find her, and in doing so, find a deeper part of themselves.

Arlene Rush is not creating art to decorate the world. She is creating art to reveal it. In that revelation lies both its fragility and its power.

I recommend visiting her website here and following her on Instagram (@arlenerush) to fully immerse yourself in her work. Also, if you're in New York or planning a visit, you can contact her to arrange a visit to her Open Studio in Chelsea.