Wes Sherman — http://www.wesshermanstudio.com/
Wes Sherman has been painting for 18 years and in that time has had 24 solo shows. In 2001 he returned to school to get his graduate degree and to study under Thomas Nozkowski at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Since completing his degree, he has shown in Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Tennessee. He often is a visiting artist at universities across the country and most recently was a visiting artist at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. He is currently preparing of an upcoming show at Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, Tennessee) in January 2011. Wes Sherman lives and works in the New York City area.
Artist Statement
“I paint about painting and the nature of painting. It is neither a grand or uncommon act. Painting is one of the earliest acts of human beings; we paint to define our lives and to put our existence into context with nature.
The act of painting is a search for meaning within nature’s sublime. This probing for self-meaning is at the heart of the sublime and the history of painting.
The painter is constantly trying to reason a way into nature, while the philosopher is trying to reason a way out of nature. Painters who get their hands messy with the mud of paint and interact with the history of painting, will by the natural act of painting, look for the spiritual purity, grandeur or excellence that is hidden in nature’s sublime.”
– Wes Sherman, August 2011
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2012 |
Instillation with Organ at Grace Church, Newark, New Jersey (Scheduled: January 22, 2012) |
| 2011 |
Slocumb Galleries, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee (Scheduled: July 5 – 22) |
| 2009 | Parish Hall Gallery, Summit, New Jersey |
| 2007 | The Arts Company, Nashville, Tennessee Tall Grass Art Association, Park Forest, Illinois Domo Gallery, Summit, New Jersey |
| 2006 | Parish Hall Gallery, Summit, New Jersey Freed – Hardeman University, Henderson, Tennessee Baumgartner Gallery, New York, New York The Arts Company, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 2005 | CRN Gallery, Chicago, Illinois 33 Collective, Chicago Illinois The Arts Company, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 2004 | Seton Memorial Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| 2003 | The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum Café Hammond Substation #9, Hammond, Indiana |
| 2002 | Calumet College of St. Joseph, East Chicago, Illinois Salon 101, Muster, Indiana Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana Clean, Well Lighted Place, Flemington, New Jersey |
| 1998 | Bongo Java Coffee House, Nashville, Tennessee Word Publishing, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 1997 | Dickson County Public Library, Dickson, Tennessee Hickman County Public Library, Centerville, Tennessee |
| 1995 | The Law Office of N. Countney Hollins, Nashville, Tennessee The Art Store, Nashville, Tennessee |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2011 |
Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee: A three person show with Gary Stephan and Judy Simonian |
| 2010 |
The Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, New Jersey |
| 2009 | Trahern Gallery, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee Jettison: New Ideas in Abstraction Rabbet Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey Naught and Nice Arts Guild of Rahway, Rahway, New Jersey Undercover: Disguise & Deception in (some) Contemporary Art Curator: Donna Gustafson Brookdale College, Lincroft, New Jersey |
| 2008 | VAPA Gallery, Raritan Valley College, Somerville, New Jersey Accola Contemporary, New York, New York 65Grand Gallery, Chicago, Illinois |
| 2007 | Raritan Valley College, Somerville, New Jersey Baumgartner Gallery, New York, New York Domo Gallery, Summit, New Jersey The Arts Company, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 2006 | Baumgartner Gallery, New York, New York Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, New Jersey Domo Gallery, Summit, New Jersey Brookdale College, Lincroft, New Jersey Raritan Valley College, Somerville, New Jersey |
| 2005 | Domo Gallery, Summit, New Jersey (Including–Lasker, Nozkowski & Stephan) Baumgartner Gallery, New York, New York Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, New Jersey Domo Gallery, Summit, New Jersey Brookdale College, Lincroft, New Jersey |
| 2004 | CRN Gallery, Chicago, Illinois Aguirre Duron Gallery, Chicago, Illinois Anne Reid Gallery, Princeton, New Jersey Geoff Young Gallery, Great Barrington, Massachusetts The Arts Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee Raritan Valley College, Somerville, New Jersey |
| 2003 | Galerie Lelong, New York, New York Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, Chicago, Illinois Bill Maynes Gallery, New York, New York Rutgers University, Mason Gross Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey Hunter University, Time Square Gallery, New York, New York |
| 2002 | Fugitive Art Center, Nashville, Tennessee Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York, New York Rutgers University, Mason Gross Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| 2001 | Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York, New York The Green Tie Affair, The Environmental Council, Nashville, Tennessee Rutgers University, Mason Gross Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey Prestige Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 2000 | Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee The Green Tie Affair, The Environmental Council, Nashville, Tennessee Prestige Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 1999 | Watkins School of Art, Nashville, Tennessee The Arts Company, Nashville, Tennessee Prestige Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 1998 | The Jewish Community Center, Nashville, Tennessee Celebration ’98 Centennial Art Center, Nashville, Tennessee Outside the Lines, Nashville, Tennessee East Hickman Art Show, Centerville, Tennessee Prestige Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 1997 | Tennessee Art League, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 1996 | Central South Art Exhibition, The Parthenon – Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee, Juried by W. A. Herring Tennessee Art League, Nashville, Tennessee The Collector’s Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee |
VISITING ARTIST
| 2011 |
Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee |
| 2010 | Temple University, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, New Jersey |
| 2007 | Watkins College of Art & Design, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 2006 | Freed – Hardeman University, Henderson, Tennessee |
| 2005 | Hunterdon Contemporary Art Museum, Clinton, New Jersey |
| 2004 | Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 2002 | Calumet College, East Chicago, Illinois |
HONORS
| 2011 |
Fellowship for Painting, New Jersey State Council on the Arts |
| 2009 | National Academy Museum 185 Annual: Invitaional Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, New York, New York – Nomination |
| 2005 | The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, New York, New York – Nomination |
| 2003 | The Space Program of the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation, New York, New York – Alternate Andrew W. Mellon Colloquium, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| 2002 | Ta/Ga Competitiveness Pool Funds Award. Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey |
PUBLICATIONS
| 2009 |
“From Roy Brown’s art class to New York City Johnson County artist makes the big time.” Accent 9 Sept. 2009 |
| 2007 | Jonathan Marx, “Downtown Dangenart Gallery Celebrates Friendship, Growth”, The Tennessean, Sunday August 26, 2007 David Maddox. “Nashville Visual Arts Events, September 1 – 10″, (Blog – Nashville Science) August 29, 2007 “Exhibits: Tall Grass Gallery”, Star Newspaper, Park Forest, IL, April 5, 2007 Works of Wes Sherman, eNews Park Forest, IL, www.enewspf.com, March 30, 2007 “Summit Painter is a student of art history”, The Independent Press, Wednesday, March 28, 2007 “Wes Sherman: Abstraction and Portraiture”, The Independent Press, Wednesday, January 24, 2007 |
| 2006 | David Maddox. More Year End Recapping, (Blog – Nashville Science) December 23, 2006 (http://perambulating.blogspot.com/2006/12/more-yearend-recapping.html) “Painting by Numbers”, p. 18, Nashville Lifestyles, June/July 2006 David Maddox. Critics Picks. Nashville Science. – June 15 Jeff Cummins. “Artists Explore Abstraction in Exhibit at Summit Gallery”. The Observer – January 6 Ralph Bellantoni. “Generating Influences: Two Generations of Modern Artists to Display Work in Summit”. Courier News. – December 1 Art Fag City Blog. New World Orders: Vision and Re-Vision. artfagcity.blogspot.com – December |
| 2002 | The Times, Munster, Indiana The Tennessean, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 2000 | InReview, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 1997 | Hickman County Times, Centerville, Tennessee |
COLLECTION:
Tall Grass Art Association, Park Forest, Illinois
Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, New Jersey
Dream Catchers, Greenwood Valley, Colorado
Pinnacle Bank, Nashville, Tennessee
ETC Management, Nashville, Tennessee
First Tennessee Bank, Nashville, Tennessee
EMPLOYMENT:
Adjunct Professor at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Raritan Valley College, Brookdale College, and Warren County College (2003 – Present)
Studio Assistant for Gary Stephan (2003 – 2005)
Teaching Assistant in the Department of Visual Arts, Mason Gross School of Visual Arts, Rutgers University (2001 – 2003)
Coordinator of Summer Educational Programs and lecturer at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (2002 – PRESENT)
Art Teacher, Nashville Christian Schools, Nashville, Tennessee (1998–2000)
EDUCATION:
UNDER GRADUATE: Lipscomb University 1991
GRADUATE: Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 2003
