Julie Heffernan

Julie Heffernan
Born1956 (age 67–68)
Peoria, Illinois, United States
EducationUniversity of California, Santa Cruz; Yale University
Known forPainting

Julie Heffernan (born 1956 in Peoria, Illinois) is an American painter whose work has been described by the writer Rebecca Solnit as "a new kind of history painting"[1] and by The New Yorker as "ironic rococo surrealism with a social-satirical twist".[2] Heffernan has been a Professor of Fine Arts at Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, New Jersey since 1997.[3][4][5] She lives in New York, New York.

Early life

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Heffernan's family moved when she was five from Illinois and was subsequently raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the youngest of four children.[6]

Education

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She received a B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1981 and, in 1985, an M.F.A. in Painting at the Yale School of Art.[5]

Career

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Heffernan was raised as a Catholic, which influenced the theme of figurative imagery in her works.[6] Her imaginative landscapes feature such elements as exploding cities, castoff gods and garbage, and falling torrents of animals, meteors and gemstones. These elements reflect her view of the world after "calamities" such as Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill threaten to make it unlivable.[7] Her pieces of artwork have a fantasy like feeling but has a metaphorical meaning behind them talking about issues that are happening around the world during her time she is creating the piece of artwork.[8]

Writing in The New York Sun, art critic David Cohen says of Heffernan's work in a 2007 exhibition: "These paintings are a hybrid of genres and styles, mixing allegory, portraiture, history painting, and still life, while in title they are all presented as self-portraits."[9]

In October 2013, she exhibited eleven paintings in her exhibition Sky is Falling at the P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York City.[10]

She is the recipient of many grants and fellowships including a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, a Fulbright-Hayes grant to West Berlin, and several awards from the National Academy Museum.[11]

Heffernan, along with fellow Brooklyn-based artist Virginia Wagner, runs "Painters on Paintings," a blog launched in 2014 for artists to share work that has influenced or inspired them.[12]

Her art pieces have been seen throughout the world. The art work is mainly all throughout the United States but in different countries such as Japan and France.

Heffernan has had 46 solo exhibitions since 1999 and was a nominee for the "Anonymous Was A Woman" award in 2016.[13] Some of her paintings go for the upper tens of thousands of dollars when they are being sold.

In 2023, Hirschl & Adler Modern presented Hoffernan's solo exhibit, The swamps are pink with June.[14][15]

Style

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Heffernan uses the traditional method of oil on canvas to create her works. She derives much of her influence from walking, trees, books, and mind-wandering.[16]

Personal life

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She is married to Jonathan Kalb, theater critic and professor in the Theater Department at Hunter College. Heffernan is the mother of two sons: Oliver, the elder, and Sam.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Solnit, Rebecca (2013). "Dandelion Clocks and Time Bombs". Sky is Falling: Paintings by Julie Heffernan (Exhibition catalog). Palo Alto Art Center. ISBN 9780989106108. OCLC 874093939.
  2. ^ "The New Yorker Digital Edition". The New Yorker. 20 March 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Julie Heffernan, Professor, Art and Design". Montclair State University. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b "On the Job with Julie Heffernan". Insight Online. Montclair State University. 23 September 2002. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Artist Profile: Julie Heffernan". Lux Art Institute. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  6. ^ a b Samet, Jennifer (15 June 2013). "Beer with a Painter: Julie Heffernan". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  7. ^ Heffernan, Julie. "Statement". Julie Heffernan. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Artists - Julie Heffernan". Mark Moore Fine Art. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  9. ^ Cohen, David (27 September 2007). "Beauty in Flesh & Fur". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  10. ^ Seed, John (6 December 2017) [14 October 2013]. "Julie Heffernan: 'Sky is Falling'". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Painters on Paintings - Us - Julie Heffernan". Painters on Paintings. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  12. ^ "About Us: Painters on Paintings is an ongoing conversation between artists". Painters on Painting. Archived from the original on 6 July 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  13. ^ "About - Resume". Julie Heffernan. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  14. ^ Kuspit, Donald (May 2023). "Julie Heffernan - Hirschl & Adler Modern". Artforum. Vol. 61, no. 9. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Julie Heffernan, Professor in Art and Design, Opens Debut Solo Exhibition at Hirschl & Adler Modern". Montclair State University. 15 February 2023. Archived from the original on 22 February 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Julie Heffernan". Paper Darts. 18 October 2018. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
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