About Charity Henderson

Charity Henderson’s body of work serves to explore the multifaceted psychological states humans experience through impressionistic mixed media paintings depicting the human face. Exhibiting blurred, disjointed edges, and faded areas, Henderson’s portrait-style works challenge the intricacies of emotional suppression, belief, and agency. She opts to illustrate on translucent materials such as mylar, Denril, and Dura-lar, which emphasize the impression of an obscured or hidden sensibility that can be derived from her works. Charity Henderson makes full use of both sides of these surfaces working with charcoal, graphite, or colored pencil on a single side and oil paint on the other. She also purposefully scrapes away and blurs sections of the painted side of each of her faces. By doing this, Henderson layers, dissolves, and distorts her works, a process, which she insists, hints at the complicated psychology of her faces.


New Brunswick Art Salon 2018 – Oil Color and Mixed Media: “An Expanse of Expressionism” 

New Brunswick Art Salon 2021 – Winners: “Resonant Becoming”

Artist Personal Website: www.charityhenderson.com 

Artist Personal Email: cmh@charityhenderson.com  


Artist Statement  

My work explores various psychological states through mixed media paintings of the human face. With blurred, fragmented edges and faded areas, these portrait-style works question the complexities of emotional concealment, thought, and identity.  I often work on translucent materials such as mylar, denril, and dura-lar, which accentuate the impression of an obscured or hidden sensibility.  Both sides of these surfaces can be worked, with charcoal, graphite, or colored pencil on one side and oil paint on the other. I also scrape away and blur sections of the painted side of each face. This layered, dissolving process hints at complicated psychology.  The pieces are informed by artists such as Sophie Jodoin, Alex Kanevsky, George Tooker, and Antonio Lopez Garcia—creators who reside inhabit the realist spectrum while pushing its limits to explore the psychological depths of the human psyche.   


Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

Exhibitor, The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn Expo Center, Brooklyn, NY  2021    

The Space Between, John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY 2019  

Beneath the Surface: Recent Works by Charity Henderson, Chashama Window Gallery, New York, NY 2018  

Featured Artist of the Month, Art Alliance of Monmouth County, Red Bank, NJ      2018  

Exhibitor, The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn Expo Center, Brooklyn, NY 2018

Group Exhibitions

2021  

Figuratively Speaking, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

“New Art, New Normal” Annual Junior & Scholarship Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY   

(Kennelly Family Award)   

Title TBD, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL  

2020  

Summer Exhibition Salmagundi Club (online on Artsy)  

Christmas in July: Thumb Box Summer Edition Salmagundi Club (online on Artsy)  

Spring Auction Exhibition Salmagundi Club, New York, NY (Tuttle Memorial Award for Portrait)   

Members’ Exhibition Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

De(Pict) La Bodega Gallery, Brooklyn, NY  

Figuratively Speaking 2020, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY   

Black and White Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY   

Junior and Scholarship Exhibition Salmagundi Club, New York, NY (Carole Teller Award)

2019  

Thumb Box Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Fall Auctions to Benefit Salmagundi, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY                   

Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibition, New York, NY  

Members’ Summer Exhibition, Salmagundi ClubNew York, NY       

Borough5, Black Diamond Gallery, Brooklyn, NY  

Annual Members Exhibition, Salmagundi ClubNew York, NY  

People’s Choice Salon Show, Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY  

Spring Auctions, Salmagundi ClubNew York, NY     

Figurative Works II, Foundry Art Gallery, St. Charles, MO

Printmaking and Monotype Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY                               

Figuratively Speaking, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY      

Black and White Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY                        

Junior and Scholarship Members Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY                     

About Face Value, Oyster Point Gallery, Red Bank, NJ

2018  

Thumb Box Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Fall Auctions, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY     

Figures & Faces, Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA  

Monotype Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Oil Color and Mixed Media Show, Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ (Third Place Award)  

Spring Auction Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Centennial Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Rendering Likeness, La Bodega Gallery, Brooklyn, NY  

Grand Salon Show, Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY  

Black and White Exhibition Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Scholarship and Junior Member Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY (Tom Picard Award)

2017  

Thumb- box Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Mystery Palette Sale Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Annual Members’ Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Fall Auctions to Benefit Salmagundi, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY                     

Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibition, Washington Square, New York, NY  

Selfies and Self-Portraits, Viridian Artists, New York, NY  

Department of Art Alumni Exhibition, The College at Brockport, SUNY, Brockport, NY  

Members’ Summer Show, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Painting and Photography Exhibition, Arts Center of Yates County, Penn Yan, NY  (Ampersand Art Supply Award)  

Mugshots, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR  

SCNY Spring Auctions, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY   

30 Under 30, Viridian Artists, New York, NY  

Black and White Exhibition Salmagundi Club, New York, NY ( Hugh P. Botts Award)  

New Members Show, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Junior and Scholarship Members Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  (Eileen Clancy Award for Work on Paper )

2016  

Thumb-Box Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Small Works 2016, Main Street Arts, Clifton Springs, NY                  

Fall Auction Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY   

Alienation: The World As It Is Or Should Be, Loading Dock Gallery, Lowell, MA  

Summer Non-Juried Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Williams Prize in Drawing Exhibition, Silpe Gallery, West Hartford, CT (Poet’s Choice Award)       

Annual Drawing Salon, Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY              

It Figures: The Body in Art, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL    

Humankind, Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, MO  

In My Absence: An Exhibition of Portraits, uBe Art, Berkeley, CA  

Members’ Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY                      

Viewpoints 2016, Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ  

75th Regional Exhibition, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY                 

Making Matters: Fresh Perspectives in Fine Craft, Peter’s Valley School of Craft, Layton, NJ         

Monotype Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY (Certificate of Merit)             

Spring Auction Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY (Eugenia Dean SCNY Award)                   

Junior & Scholarship Membership Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY (Certificate of Merit)                   

2015  

7th National Figurative Painting and Drawing Exhibition and Competition, Susquehanna University                   

Perspectives, Hillyer Art Space, Washington DC  

Thumb Box Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY  

Juried Small Works Exhibition, Upsteam Gallery, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY  

Small Works Show, Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY  

2014  

People’s Choice Show, Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 

2013  

Wide Open 4, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY   

CVPA MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth  

Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts 102nd Annual Juried Exhibition, Mystic, CT  

2013 CVPA Juried Student Exhibition, Judith Klein Art Gallery, New Bedford, MA

2012  

Parallels and Divergence, Gallery 244, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth  

Portraits, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA  

2012 CVPA Juried Student Show, Judith Klein Gallery, New Bedford, MA  

2011  

6 by 6 by 2011 Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY  

Fabricating Three Realities, Gallery 244, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth   

2010  

Variable Editions, Tower Fine Arts Gallery, The College at Brockport           

Faces of Rochester, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY  

Cache: Annual Student Art Exhibition, Tower Fine Arts Center, The College at Brockport  

(Painting Award, Chase Family Award)  

Internal Works, Yates County Arts Center, Penn Yan, NY                  

6 by 6 by 2010, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY                              

Art Awake, 35 State St., Rochester, NY  

2009  

19th Annual Members Exhibition, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY

6 by 6 by 2009, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY  

ArtAwake, Pixley Warehouse, Rochester, NY         

2008 

ASA Members Show, West Side Gallery, The College at Brockport  

Arts in the Gardens, Sonnenberg Gardens, Canandaigua, NY  

ArtAwake, Station 55, Rochester, NY  

Kismet: Annual Student Art Exhibition, Tower Fine Arts Gallery, the College at Brockport  

 


Awards

2013: GSS Arts Representative Excellence Award; University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

2009: Ambrose L. Corcoran Art Award; The College at Brockport

2008: Katherine Parker Excellence in Art Award; The College at Brockport