Jeffery Herrity

2014

Objects of My Devotion

We all have memories we can’t let go of, or spend years trying to recall or recreate. We think they are there, but like shadows on walls, they distort and their meanings shift. I don’t have many happy memories from my childhood, but I have vivid memories of the ceramic objects my mother would bring home after an outing doing ceramics, a hobby of hers. Every holiday our home was filled with beautifully glazed, but tragically whimsical figures, such as a three-foot white stoneware Christmas tree with plastic lights and enough ceramic pumpkins to fill a Halloween shop.
However, the objects most fascinating to me were the Easter decorations. We had a large collection of bunnies and eggs in all sizes and colors. I would seek them out year-round and play with them, creating sensational assemblages and narratives. I became devoted to these objects because they were an escape. Now, many years later, I am devoted to their memories.

When I learned that my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers, I shifted my focus to re-creating haunting and fragile assemblages from molds similar to the ones my mom used. I set out to re-shape my fragmented memories to better understand them. Years ago, I was just a little boy devoted to the creations of my mother. Now I am an adult trying to remember and make meaning of the past.

Jeff Herrity worked in the Internet industry for many years before returning to the Corcoran College of Art + Design in 2008 where he received his BFA as well as his Masters in Art Education. For the past several years he has been teaching art and technology classes at the Lab School of Washington and is also a member of Flux Studios, and now a member of Red Dirt Studios where he will continue to refine porcelain sculpture work. Jeff has been in many shows from the WPA Auction in 2013, to the inaugural year of the (e)merge art festival where he created a large site specific installation. His porcelain work has been shown twice in the Smithsonian Craft Show Emerging Artists in 2009 and 2010. More recently his work has been in Asheville, North Carolina at a Handmade in America show in 2012, and had a piece in the International Glass and Clay show at the Pepco Edison Gallery which then toured the UK. He has also shown work at the Fridge Gallery in 2012, Baltimore Clayworks, Hamiltonian Gallery (Call Collect Fundraiser), the Renaissance Dupont Hotel, La Fabrica Aurora in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the Corcoran Gallery of Art (BFA exhibit), Gallery 31 at the Corcoran, THREAD at Union Market, and Civilian Art Projects. His photography work has even been used in the set design for a production of God of Carnage at the Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia.

2014

Babel

This body on work takes inspiration from three sources: the bible story of Babel, illuminated manuscripts, and typography. The objective of this series is to express the lack of understanding between people; the “us and them” that is created by a language barrier. This subject is relevant in our current global and local communities. Today’s world is a place where communication across the globe can happen with a click of a button. Yet, we cannot understand each other and resentment grows.

Decorative elements are inspired from a variety of cultures including Indian fabric stamps, Japanese and Germanic wood cut design, and Persian miniature borders. Elements borrowed from antiquity are used and combined with contemporary art styles and forms of communications. Computer language, such as texting shortcuts and visual ideas such as Japanese anime represent life today. All of these elements live together in a beautifully composed but completely indiscernible world.

Michele Montalbano was born in Los Angeles, California. She earned a BS from California State University. She works as a painter and printmaker in the Washington DC area where she attended the George Washington University and obtained a MFA in painting. She has received fellowships at residency programs including the Vermont Studio School and awards including the Strauss Fellowship and the David Lloyd Kreeger Prize. Her work has been published in “New American Paintings.”
Two subjects that have been the main inspiration of her paintings and prints are interior spaces and nature. Her latest series, “Babel,” a multi media project inspired by medieval illuminated manuscripts, incorporates book arts and letterpress with printmaking and painting.
Ms. Montalbano’s work has been exhibited at many venues in the DC area including Gallery Plan B, and McLean Project for the Arts and Greater Reston Arts Center.

Pat Goslee

Pattie Porter Firestone

Lorelle Rau

Joh Paradiso

Renee Stout

Cianne Fragione

2014

This group exhibition features select work from Hillyer’s Artist Advisory Committee, to include Pat Goslee, Lorelle Rau, Cianne Fragione, Ellington Robinson, John Paradiso, Renee Stout, Lorelle Rau, and Pattie Porter Firestone. The Artist Advisory Committee is comprised of a local artists and curators who have a diverse background in the arts and assist the gallery staff in nominating, selecting, and exhibiting artists both locally and internationally. The Committee also serves as mentors for the selected artists.

2014

Apocaloptimist: A Future True Story

Apocaloptimist
[ Apah-cal-Op-tuh-mist] n.

Someone who knows things will go to s#!*, but still believes it will work out for the best.
Apocaloptimist: A Future True Story is an exploration of myths created in a constantly expanding urban wilderness. By utilizing scale manipulation, architecture, play, and landscape, I hope to expose the magical moments waiting in an imaginary dystopian future.

Rachel Schmidt received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Mount Royal School of Art and her BFA in Textile Design from the University of Kansas. Rachel studied contemporary art and the textile trade in Istanbul, Turkey on a Walters Travel Grant before moving to Warsaw, Poland in 2008 where she helped organize an art exhibition of foreign artists in an experimental gallery space. She is currently an Exhibits Specialist at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and an Artist in Residence at the Arlington Arts Center.

Micheline Klagsbrun

Bernis von zur Muehlen

Jill Bell

Mark Giaimo

Jordanna Kalman

Corinne Beardsley

July 2014

Flesh & Bone: An Exhibition of Contemporary Figurative Work

Hillyer Art Space presents Flesh & Bone, an exhibition that focuses on contemporary figurative art, pushing boundaries and providing a fresh look at the familiar subject of the human figure. This exhibition was juried by DC-based artist Judy Byron, and will feature thirty-three works by local and regional artists.

SELECTED ARTISTS: Corinne Beardsley (MD) Jill Bell (PA), Daniel Brooking (DC) Sally Canzoneri (DC), Catherine Cole (VA), Catherine Day (VA), Mark Giaimo (VA), Tamah Graber (MD), Susan Grace (VA), Lillie Harris (MD), Shanye Huang (MD), Ginny Huo (MD),, Ian Jehle (DC), Paul Kaller (VA), Jordanna Kalman (VA), Sarah Kaufman (PA), Stephanie Kay (DC), Micheline Klagsbrun (DC), Raye Leith (MD), Gordon Lyon (MD), Molly Marie Nuzzo (MD), Susan Picard (MD) Caren Quinn (VA) Jenny Rappaport (VA), Pamela Rogers (MD), Cathy Sawdey (MD) Nicholas Simko (MD) Martin Slater (MD) Paula Stern (DC), Cindy Stockton-Moore (PA), Bernis von zur Muehlen (VA), Mara Wilson (WV), Ashley Wu, (MD), Julie Zirlin (MD).

Juror’s Statement by Judy Byron: Flesh and Bone – these words trigger key elements for me whenever I look at work based on the figure. Out of the almost 400 entries, I responded to those that spoke to me immediately with a distinct physicality and a sense of emotional and psychological narrative. My early training in theatre, and specifically an approach that emphasized the power of one’s inner and outer life at any given moment in time, continues to inform my own art practice and my appreciation of the capacity of the human figure, as a source of expression, both subtly and dramatically. With each choice for Flesh and Bone, I felt the figure deeply located in itself, in the moment, and (even if a portrait) beyond depiction. For me, the human figure is a powerful icon of all our humanity and a communicator of the complexities we share. On viewing Flesh and Bone, I hope you will find both pleasure and provocation. Thanks to all the accomplished artists who submitted their work. It was gratifying to view all your submissions. And I acknowledge the courage of all artists who keep communicating what is profoundly important to them.