November 17th - December 22nd    | Within and Without: a Members Exhibition

Featuring the work of artists: Laurel Hoffer, Viera Levitt, Susie Matthews, Marne Snyder, James Sundquist, and MJ Yeager

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 17th, 6-8 p.m.

Artist Talk: Wednesday December 5th, 7 p.m.

Hera Gallery is proud to present the exhibition Within and Without, a Hera member exhibition featuring Laurel Hoffer, Viera Levitt, Susie Matthews, Marne Snyder, and James Sundquist. The show will take place at Hera Gallery, at 10 High Street in Wakefield, RI, from November 17th to December 22nd, 2018. The public is invited to attend the Opening Reception on Saturday, November 17th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Gallery will also be holding an Artist Talk on Wednesday December 5th, at 7p.m to discuss the artist’s process, materials, and artistic concepts addressed in the work.

In this upcoming exhibition, Within and Without, our five artists explore formal aesthetics within the relationships and polarities of life. Artist James Sundquist explains, “My paintings are about Life in Space, or organic life forms (like stars) within the context of deep space.” Sundquist makes a connection with the work shown by artist Viera Levitt, whose photographs are a part of an ongoing series exploring of Brutalist architecture. “Your photos reveal a sense of the spirit or life within a context that is usually assumed to be cold,” states Sundquist. “Both our work explores life existing within an environment assumed to be antithetical to organic life…” For Viera Levitt, this exhibition is all about LIGHT this time, creating mystery in the staircase of the concrete Campanile - tower at UMass Dartmouth where you would not expect anything spiritual to be taking place. Marne Snyder is also playing with spatial structure, in small pastel abstract drawings she experiments with deep space and colorful forms intersecting within.

For artists Laurel Hoffer and Susie Matthews, the exploration and abstract portrayal of bodies and visceral objects manifest into very different finished works. Matthews takes a more tactile and conceptual approach, using wool “drawings” to explore the internal and external forces within a being.  In contrast, Hoffer uses brightly colored, collage to explore the inner female psyche, hidden selves, mythology, and the objectification/glorification of women. Much of her work incorporates images of space and the sky, and the mythological/glorification aspects evoke a feeling of spirituality.

This Exhibition will be on view at Hera Gallery until December 22nd, 2018

These programs are presented with partial support from The Rhode Island State Council of the Arts, The Champlin Foundation, The University of Rhode Island, and The ongoing Friends of Hera. Hera Gallery is free and open to the public and is accessible to persons with disabilities. Parking is available.