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melissa

herrington

Venice, California

About Melissa
ABOUT MELISSA

Melissa Herrington is a contemporary abstract artist currently living and working in Los Angeles, California. She has called Southern California home since 2005 where she received her MFA from Otis College of Art and Design. Prior to that, she spent most of her early career in Florida and has a BFA from Florida State University. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally.

ABOUT PROCESS

My aim is to create abstract paintings that are contemplative and evocative. The organic quality of my textured marks lends an ephemeral feeling, images imply fluidity. This “unfinished” surface represents an unfolding of possibility. I use the transparent stains and the opaqueness of color. My work examines the theme of transformation.

ABOUT INSPIRATION

Herrington creates large-scale, abstract paintings that are built up through layers of paint on canvas overlaid with mark-making using graphite, charcoal and pigments. Herrington’s newest works explore the complexities of transformation. Each work functions as both an individual entity and as a part of a larger theme of process. Herrington explores spontaneous marks and subtle forms through abstraction. Layers are fundamental to her imagery and process, infusing each work with multiple surfaces. Colors and unsteady shapes blend on the surface where irregular marks appear as though left unintentionally by a trace. Loosely sketched forms blend into whites and grays, contrasted by whole abstracted fields. These forms exist within the space of the painting; yet also allude to an outside source. At the heart of Herrington's artistic practice is an unmistakable relationship between distilled color and form. Standing before a singular canvas in this series, one is immediately drawn in by a strong and powerful presence, with painterly veils and swathes of solid color that are paused mid flow. There is a balance of figure and ground creating a powerful and delicate tension. As contoured shapes emerge from the abstract, the viewer is witness to form revealing, creating new visual possibilities, evoking a sense of joy and wonder.

Infinity Arts Foundation

As Co- Founder, Melissa I am very passionate about the creation of the Infinity Arts Foundation.

It is a place where Where STEAM meets the power of STORY.

 

Headquartered in Los Angeles and Sun Valley, Infinity Arts Foundation, amplifies and supports the high-achieving work of remarkable people, across disciplines, in science and discovery – commonly referred to as S.T.E.A.M.  We do this through our two signature programs – The Infinity Film Fund and our Infinity Artist in- Residency Programs.

The Infinity Film Fund develops, curates and champions projects for small and large screen. Our focus is to share the extraordinary lives, experiences and expeditions of people of science making groundbreaking discoveries about the world in which we find ourselves. By leveraging the power of story to share under-recognized extraordinary people in STEAM, we educate and inspire the next generation of problem solvers and solution seekers. 

Exhibitions

2022 // SOLO EXHIBITION 

CORAL SPRINGS MUSEUM OF ART

2022 // Solo Show, Spillman Blackwell Fine Art, New Orleans, LA

2022 // "Elusive Figure"  Chicago Art Source, Chicago

 

2022 // "Rites of Springs" Christopher Martin Gallery, Houston, TX

2022 // Palm Beach Art Fair

GALLERIA CA' D'ORO, NYC / Miami

2021 // Context ART MIAMI 

2021 // Cube Art Fair, Times Square NYC, NY

2021 // "Where Time is somehow lost" Chase Edwards Gallery, Hamptons NY

 

2021 // Art Hamptons NY

GALLERIA CA' D'ORO, NYC / Miami


2020  // Saatchi Art Fair

2020 // Solo Show "New Work"

Lanoue Gallery, Boston

2020 Christopher Martin Gallery, Dallas, Texas

2019 // Saatchi Art Fair, NYC

2019 // SCOPE ART MIAMI

2019 // Saatchi Art Fair, LA

 

2019 // Saatchi Art Fair LONDON

2019 // "Women In Abstraction"Christopher Martin Gallery, Dallas, Texas


2019 “Under the Spell of the Rose Moon” Soren Christensen Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

 

2018 // Saatchi Art Fair, NYC / LA

 

2017 // Art Santa Fe

2017 // Saatchi Art Fair LA


2016 // Solo Show, Ireland,

Chicago Art Source, Chicago, Illinois

2016 // Solo Show, Soren Christensen Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

2104 // Solo Exhibition, Daughter of the Wind,

Los Angeles, California

2013 // Solo Show, And the Flame Stitches that Empty Chasm Shut, Gallery DeNovo, Sun Valley, Idaho

2012 // Solo Show, Ashes To Honey, M Herrington Gallery,

Los Angeles, California

2012 // Solo Show, Reveille, Soren Christensen Gallery,

New Orleans, Louisiana

2010 //  Solo Show, HANDless, Gallery DeNovo,

Sun Valley, Idaho

2010 // Veiled Vision, Gallery DeNovo, ArtChicago, Chicago, Illinois

2009 // Solo Show, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, Soren Christensen Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

2008 // Solo Show, Lighght, Gallery DeNovo,

Sun Valley, Idaho

2008 // Solo Show, Echoes of Sight, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California

2007 // Solo Show, New Paintings, Fay Gold Gallery,

Atlanta, Georgia

2007 // Shadow Memories, Gallery DeNovo,

Sun Valley, Idaho

2006 // Solo Show, Soul Sessions, Gallery DeNovo, Sun Valley, Idaho

2005 // Solo Show, Long Shadows, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta

2004 // Gifts of Passage, Gallery DeNovo,

Sun Valley, Idaho

2004 // Solo Show, Travel Stains, Association for Visual Artist, Chattanooga, Tennessee

2004 // Solo Show, Sleep Stories With Separate Spheres,

Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia

2002 // Solo Show, Budapest and Beyond, ArtFarm,

Atlanta, Georgia

2002 // Solo Show, New Works, Delta Technology Center, Atlanta, Georgia

Curriculum Vitae

Present- 2002   Artist // Melissa Herrington Art

Professional Full Time Artist

2012   M. Herrington Gallery, Venice CA,

Owner/Director

1997-2002  Vermilion Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA

1997- Internship // Museum of Fine Arts, Florida    

State University, Tallahassee Florida

1996- Internship // Museum of Fine Arts, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida

Artist in Residency

2016 Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts, Rabun Gap, Georgia

2015 Cill Rialaig Residency, County Kerry Ireland

2012 LaSallian International Residency,

Tuscany, Italy

2010 CAMAC, Marnay sur Seine, France

2009 Sandberg Institute Fellowship,

Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, Holland

2006 Idyllwild center for the Arts, Paintings Edge Residency, Idyllwild, California

2014-2001 Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts, Rabun Gap, Georgia

2002 Hungarian Multicultural Center, Budapest, Hungary

Education

2008, Otis College of Art and Design

Los Angeles, California MFA Studio Art

 

1997, Florida State University

Tallahassee, Florida BFA Studio Art

Honors, Minor in Art History

Bibliography

2015 Anthropologie Feature

2013 Wall Street Journal March 8, 2013

2010 HANDless, Review Katie Schultz August

2010 The Yellow House, Book Cover author Robin Behn

2008 Where are the women? Review: Sabina Dana Plasse August 13, 2008

2005 Atlanta Journal Constitution, Review: Jerry Cullum L-3 April 17, 2005

2004 Chattanooga Times, Review: Ann Nichols D-6 September 19, 2004

2004 Atlanta Magazine pg 107 May 2004

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