WISH YOU WERE HERE

“I wonder about Lady Thatcher’s hair, and if it was an Elnett covered fire hazard as she lent over, warming her test tubes on her bunsen burner and working out that perfect ratio of air and oil and sugar that would make ice cream taste creamy with minimal use of cows, and would feed a million holiday makers lying oiled and sandy next to bright striped windbreaks, canvas deck chair seats puffed into little arcs by the wind below flapping Union Jack flags. I’m thinking about damp gritty bikini gussets. Sand in sticky crevices. ‘Kiss Me Quick’. Bumper Cars. Two little ducks. Tongues sticky from stamps pressed on seaside postcards home. Candy floss fingers writing ‘Wish you were here’.”

RR

SPRING/BREAK Art Show New York

On the occasion of SPRING/BREAK NYC 2025 British artist Richelle Rich hosted a public participation event in her solo booth curated by Alexis Hyde.
Visitors were invited to Rich’s ice cream confessional to share their soft serve inspired stories on postcards which formed the back-drop to the booth.
The show also included new film and photographic works created by Rich in 2024 depicting her pilgrimage performance with a giant Mr Whippy on the Isle of Wight in the UK.

A select few were invited to share a story directly with the artist in exchange for an ice cream and became part of her ongoing Polaroid portrait project Wish You Were Here.

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PRESS
Cascone, Sarah. ”Surprises Abound at SPRING/BREAK Art show” Artnet May 2025
Scott, Carrie. “New York Fair Highlights”. SEEN May 2025
Deters, Alexandria. “Four Writers Report From Frieze Week”. Cultbytes. May 2025

SPRING/BREAK Art Show NYC
New York City 2025 Exhibition
May 6 - 12, 2025

Throughout 2024 Rich created various participatory performances in the US and UK, sharing soft serve ice cream with the public in exchange for stories that are documented on video and on a vintage Polaroid camera. The ice cream becomes a memory machine, provoking stories of personal history, nostalgia, regret and belonging. These ever expanding narratives utilize the personal and specific to expose the universal experience. Rich exposes her Polaroid films to x rays on her travels increasing the fragility of an already unpredictable medium