Upcoming group show at Soho20 Gallery.  I won't be showing work in this exhibit but somehow Elizabeth Bisbing and I ended up in the postcard image - ha!  Yes, well, come see it when it opens.

Tote Sale Fundraiser

EKG Tote - front

EKG Tote - back

I decorated this Soho20 tote bag as part of a fall/winter fundraiser for the gallery.  I  drew and painted directly on the canvas tote using acrylic paint and fabric markers.  Visit the gallery's Facebook page to see more totes decorated by Soho20 artists - there are bags with prints, original paintings, print transfer and original drawings.  All are one-of-a-kind.  We're working on creating an online shop but if you're interested in buying one in the meantime, contact the gallery directly at soho20@verizon.net or at 212-367-8994.  

Savoir-Faire 2010!

Soho20 is hosting its second annual performance series!  From November 5 - 20, you can visit the gallery to watch and participate in exciting performative works by women artists.   Click here to view the schedule and here to learn more and help support the series via Kickstarter.  

Calling All Artists - 2011 Soho20 Studio Residency Program!!!

Deadline to apply is November 20th.  Click here for details and to apply.

"Between the lines" at Soho20

Photos from Soho20 Gallery's 2010 member group exhibition, Between the lines, which closed on October 2.  I was very excited to have exhibited work with this prestigious group of artists.

Work by (L-R) Darla Bjork and Martha Edelheit

(L-R): Francine LeClercq, Lannie Hart and Darla Bjork

(L-R): Carla Hernandez, Susan Hockaday and Eve Ingalls

Foreground: Kathy Stark; background: Anne McKeown

Work by Aphrodite Desiree Navab

L-R: Anne McKeown, Mariangeles Soto-Diaz, Gayle Tanaka and Lannie Hart

L-R: Gayle Tanaka, Lannie Hart and Aphrodite Desiree Navab

Paintings on center wall by Diane Churchill; background: Eve Ingalls; foreground: Lannie Hart

L-R: Anne McKeown and Mariangeles Soto-Diaz

Foreground: Anne McKeown; center: Carla Hernandez; back: Darla Bjork

Closer images of my two pieces in the show:

Molten (I come when you call), 2010

acrylic and pencil on packaging paper

48 x 30 in.

Molten (I come when you call), 2010 - detail

Molten (I come when you call), 2010 - detail

Can Barely Contain Myself, 2010

mixed media assemblage with cut up postcards from my "Exploding Heart" exhibition

9 x 12 in.

This photo of me was taken in '97 or '98 by Jennifer Poole, a fellow visual art student at Rutgers University (and my next door neighbor in the Jameson dorms on Douglass campus).  I recall her asking me to sit for this portrait, taken from the opposite side of plastic sheeting, for a project that she was working on in which she asked every sitter to write down their biggest regret (mine was that I did not say "I love you" to my father before he passed away).  I like the dreamy quality of this image - it has a blurry affect almost like seeing through eyes welled up with tears.  It also makes me think of a vintage photo, or of how some memories appear fuzzy in the mind.  

Speaking of regrets, I lost touch with Jennifer after we graduated.  I ran into her once in Chelsea but don't know why I didn't do a better job of following up with that encounter.  I really enjoyed knowing her when we were in school and her work always impressed me.  Jennifer, if you by chance Google your name and this blog post comes up, drop me a note!  

Group Show at Soho20

I'll be in this upcoming group exhibition with several exquisite artists at Soho20 Gallery.

A Thrilling Offer!

I've been invited to attend the Vermont Studio Center in April 2011 for a one month artist residency!  The Review Committee has recommended me for an Artist's Grant and a Work Exchange Award.  I'm so thrilled that I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight - oh Happy News!!!

Exhibition Postpartum

Removing my name and exhibition title: a mourning practice.  

I didn't realize that the close of my exhibition would come with a wave of depression; a sense of loss, displacement and heartbreak.  I'd spent the last year creating an intimate body of work that had previously existed in the privacy and security of my home studio, then spent weeks preparing for the exhibition itself; exposed that intimate body of work to the public for nearly four (short) weeks, then took everything down and put it all to rest.  Three pieces were sold - a wonderful transaction but one that means I hand over pieces of myself.

And now to figure out what comes next; I feel immobilized and unmotivated.  Everything I'd been putting off because the exhibition was my priority now needs to be faced (finding a job is on the top of that list) and all the while I want to keep up the pre-show momentum I had built.  But I don't know how or where to start and am even questioning everything I'm asking myself to do.  

I googled "post-exhibition blues" and found this article on ArtistPortfolio.net, among other blog entries and articles.  I'm glad to know now that what I've been experiencing is normal.

CALLING ALL ARTISTS! STUDIO RESIDENCY CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Click on image to view larger version:

APPLY HERE!

Exploding Heart installation photos have been posted on my blog, http://explodingheartwork.blogspot.com/, created specifically for the exhibition at Soho20 Gallery Chelsea. 

"Exploding Heart" Opening Reception

  

 

I can't thank enough all who came out to celebrate with me.  Thank you also to all those who wished they could be there but sent me their love and best wishes.  And thank you to Jessica Nilsen, Diane Habjan Matarese and Wen Wen Lin for taking these photos.   

Upcoming Exhibition at Soho20

I Would Rather Go Like This, 2009, mixed media on drafter’s vellum, 58 x 36 inches

For Immediate Release:

CARLA HERNANDEZ

Exploding Heart

SOHO20 Gallery Chelsea

547 West 27^th Street, Suite 301

New York, NY 10001

March 30 – April 24, 2010

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 1st, 6-8pm

SOHO2O Gallery Chelsea is pleased to announce the exhibition of new work by artist Carla Hernandez.  The exhibit features large-scale drawings and paintings on translucent vellum as well as small drawings on wood.

Exploding Heart is a visual colloquy traversing both heartache and happiness.

Central to Hernandez’s work is the dichotomy that the heart is an organ that circulates blood through the body yet also serves as an emotional metaphor.  Visceral reality combines with intuitive compulsion in her work as she seeks a sort of reconciliation. 

In the works Somewhere In There I Am and I Would Rather Go Like This, carefully rendered lines gather concentrically around bursts and folds of color.  In others works, a union of both plant and human anatomy can be seen as a metaphor for the physical and intellectual conundrum Hernandez dissects as problematic to human existence. 

Carla Hernandez was born in Newark, New Jersey and currently lives and works in New York.  She received her BA in Visual Art from Rutgers University in 1999.  A painter and performance artist, Hernandez has exhibited and performed in group shows at galleries and alternative spaces in New York and New Jersey, including Mason Gross School of the Arts Galleries, Kenkeleba Gallery and ABC No Rio.  She has been a member of Soho20 Gallery Chelsea since spring 2009.  This is her first exhibit at SOHO20 Gallery Chelsea.

For more information please contact gallery director Jenn Dierdorf at 212.367.8994 or soho20@verizon.net     

       

Home base

I have a website!  http://www.carlahernandezart.com/

So busy, so soon...

Photo: Fantasy of second self to help share the load

Things to come: a website showcasing my work and my exhibition at Soho20 (March 30 - April 24).  Details will be posted in the next few weeks...maybe even days (oh, daze).

Work in progress.

Sashi presents an exhibition preview.

Old Paintings

These are paintings that I had done during my final year at Rutgers in 1998. I finally photographed them last night - I had slides made of these long ago but they currently live in a registry in New Jersey. They are all untitled, small works, oil on canvas. I'm very attached to them. I like to look at them every now and again to see how my work has evolved. I think much of what I do is based on these - although recent work may look very different, the colors and intuitiveness carry on.  Actually, come to think of it, I've been watching a lot of The Outer Limits lately (science fiction series from the early 60's) and looking at these images suddenly reminded me of the show...

Our City Dreams

On Sunday I started to feel ill (seems it was an allergic reaction to wall paint!?!) so I stopped working and watched the latest dvd I had from Netflix: Our City Dreams, a documentary by Chiara Clemente. It features five artists - Swoon, Ghada Amer, Kiki Smith, Marina Abramovic and Nancy Spero - discussing their work as well as when, how and why they came to NYC. It was fascinating and inspiring to see the artists in their studios and hear them talk about what inspires them, their challenges and triumphs. Some highlights for me: Swoon installing her show while discussing the pros and cons of having her work become more widely accepted; Amer's parents sharing their pride on their daughter's success as an artist despite not really understanding her work; observing Smith's calm haste to finish her museum installation and still find time to get ready for the opening; watching Abramovic's footage of early performances; and sharing Spero's intimate 80th birthday celebration with her family. I very much enjoyed it and highly recommend it.