Jerome Hershey: then&NOW, includes paintings from two periods of Hershey's career: the mid 1970s and 2007. This group of paintings is a sampling from the two periods that demonstrate Hershey's development as an artist.
Victor Donohoe, an art critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer, has described the Lancaster native's work as "spirited, at times even brilliant."
Hershey is a painter with a strong background in color theory and the use of geometric patterns. His early work evolved from color studies based on the work of Richard Cramer, Johannes Itten and Joseph Albers. His interest in Middle Eastern mosaics, Japanese screens, Bauhaus design and Amish quilts is evident.
Hershey's more recent work utilizes symbols and shapes meaningful to his personal life. These symbols and shapes are repeated and layered in such a way as to "lose connection to their derivation," rendering the paintings universal statements. Patterns are layered over fields of color that appear as pure energy fields. The paintings fairly hum.
"I like to offer the chance to transcend a moment, to create a positive experience in a messy world," Hershey said of his art.
Hershey received a BFA from Tyler School of Art in 1974 and has been a central figure in the Lancaster art community since then. His work is displayed throughout the East Coast, including the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Lancaster Museum of Art, Reading Museum of Art and Armstrong World Industries.
His work has been written about in publications such as The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Art Matters.
Hershey will give a lecture 4:30-5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, in Whittaker Hall 214 at HACC's Harrisburg Campus. A reception in the Rose Lehrman Gallery will follow from 5:30-7p.m.
All gallery programs are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday; with extended hours 5-7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday evenings. For more information call 780-2435 or email Kim Banister, gallery curator at kebanist@hacc.edu.
The Rose Lehrman Art Gallery exhibits are made possible, in part, through Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA), a local decision-making program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA). The PCA is a state agency in the Governor's office, created by the Legislature in 1966 to encourage and promote the arts. Funding comes from the citizens of Pennsylvania through an annual state appropriation by the Legislature and from a federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. PPA is administered locally by Jump Street.