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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Sara Greenberger Rafferty

“Throughout my career,” the artist Sarah Greenberger Rafferty said in 2018, “I’ve been interested in representing people, ‘performance of self in everyday life,’ to borrow a phrase from the sociologist Erving Goffman. This includes people who are also characters such as the stand-up comic, the teacher, and really just the self, the individual, as performed in the wider context of society and culture.” Rafferty’s unique videos, installations, paintings, and photographs make for cutting commentary on the worlds of comedy and pop culture. She uses props, theatrical elements, and even performers to highlight the absurdity and humor that permeates 20th-century visual culture. This virtual exhibition surveys Rafferty’s work of the last 10 years, and includes notable catalogues and reviews. —E.C.