November 7, 2008 – September 25, 2009
MetroTech Center, Brooklyn

Sara Greenberger Rafferty uses elements of performance as an overarching theme in her work. For MetroTech Center, Rafferty has created After Harry, a seven-foot-tall Plexiglas tank that is empty, aside from ropes and chains left in a pile inside, giving the impression that an escape artist has miraculously broken free. The vacant container is presented as a record of an imagined performance, a "souvenir" of the transformation from bound to unbound, and from being contained inside to freedom beyond the container, that viewers were unable to witness. This is not the first time Greenberger Rafferty has alluded to great stunt performers such as Harry Houdini in her work. She often references historical performances and vaudeville in her art, creating a sense of vintage nostalgia. The tank itself has the sculptural quality of a Modernist cube, and its transparent quality is also reminiscent of a museum display vitrine that has been expanded significantly to meet human scale.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Sara Greenberger Rafferty received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (2000) and her MFA from Columbia University (2005). She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She has had solo exhibitions at Sandroni Ray Gallery, Los Angeles (2006) and P.S.1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York (2006), and has participated in a number of group shows, including Gagosian Gallery, New York (2008); Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Oregon (2007); and ARTSPACE, Auckland, New Zealand (2006). She has upcoming shows at The Kitchen, New York and the Eli Marsh Gallery at Amherst College in 2009.

Ongoing at MetroTech: Tony Matelli's Stray Dog (1998), James Angus's Basketball Dropped from 35,000 feet at Moment of Impact (1999), and Tom Otterness's Alligator (1996) and Visionary (1997), all commissioned by Public Art Fund, continue to be exhibited within the MetroTech Commons.

MetroTech Center is located in Downtown Brooklyn between Jay Street and Flatbush Avenue at Myrtle Avenue. Viewing hours are dawn to dusk daily for outdoor works, Monday through Friday 8am to 6pm for Francis Cape's installations in the lobby of One MetroTech Center. Subway: A, C, F to Jay Street/Borough Hall, exit at Myrtle Promenade; R to Lawrence Street; Q to Dekalb Avenue. This exhibition is free.

Public Art Fund is New York's leading presenter of artists' projects, new commissions, installations and exhibitions in public spaces. For over 30 years, the Public Art Fund has been committed to working with emerging and established artists to produce innovative exhibitions of contemporary art throughout New York City. By bringing artworks outside the traditional context of museums and galleries, the Public Art Fund provides a unique platform for an unparalleled public encounter with the art of our time.

Recent critically acclaimed exhibitions and presentations include Olafur Eliasson's The New York City Waterfalls at four locations on the shorelines of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Governors Island; Chris Burden's What My Dad Gave Me at Rockefeller Center; James Yamada's Our Starry Night, and Sarah Lucas' Perceval at Doris C. Freedman Plaza; Dara Friedman's Musical on the streets of Midtown Manhattan, and Alexander Calder in New York at City Hall Park.

Since 1993, Public Art Fund's program at MetroTech has exhibited new commissions and recent works by more than fifty emerging and established artists including Vito Acconci, Liz Craft, Jacob Dyrenforth, Tony Feher, Rachel Foullon, Luis Gispert, Corin Hewitt, Matthew Day Jackson, Matt Johnson, Nina Katchadourian, Peter Kreider, Tony Matelli, Ryan McGuinness, Dave McKenzie, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Mamiko Otsubo, Tom Otterness, Ester Partegàs, Valeska Soares, Do-Ho Suh, Marc Swanson and Ursula von Rydingsvard.

Sponsorship
Trapdoor at MetroTech Center is part of an ongoing program organized by Public Art Fund and sponsored by MetroTech Commons Associates, and MetroTech companies including: Forest City Ratner Companies, JPMorganChase, National Grid, WellChoice and Polytechnic University. Special thanks to Forest City Ratner Companies and First New York Partners.

Public Art Fund is a non-profit arts organization supported by generous contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations, and with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.