JIM KEMPNER FINE ART PRESENTS CHARLIE HEWITT: NEW WORK MAY 19-JUNE 30

Humor dominates as renowned artist Charlie Hewitt radically transitions

NEW YORK, May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jim Kempner Fine Art announces Charlie Hewitt's 14th solo show with the gallery - Charlie Hewitt: New Work. It will open May 19, 2022 and run through June 30th.

This new body of work includes large canvases, prints, light sculptures and drawings inspired by the decades of doodles Hewitt unconsciously drew on his daily calendar pages while conducting his daily business affairs. The work feels spring- loaded, as pipes twist and time bombs threaten detonation, their elements about to burst from the walls.

"Charlie and I have worked together for 30 years. I feel that this new work represents the most honest, raw, unfiltered art I have seen from him," said Jim Kempner, owner of the eponymous gallery. "There's a beautiful simplicity and power in this new body of work. It is full of humor, boldly created in the face of an increasingly polarized, anxious and violent world." 

"What I like best about them is that they are funny," stated Hewitt. "There is an element of humor that comes from my doodles. It is hard to find that in art, and humor is a big part of what art is about to me."

Hewitt is most recently known for Hopeful, a public art project the artist created with sculptures and billboards. To date, the Hopeful project has spread with installations across seven states at dozens of different sites, both public and private. The project has inspired hundreds and hundreds of letters and emails from members of the community speaking. Nurses, teachers, people both young and old have written to Charlie about the optimism and compassion his project has inspired in a world overwhelmed by covid fatigue, extreme political and economic polarization. This widely recognized project has appeared in television, radio and in various other news outlets. 

A Hopeful light sculpture will be part of this latest exhibition, as will other monumental light sculptures. The sculptures are " full of life and light," he said. "They are full of fun - a panacea for the complexity of our current state of things.

Jim Kempner Fine Art
Jim Kempner Fine Art specializes in contemporary paintings, sculpture, photography, and works on paper, with a special emphasis on contemporary master prints and outdoor sculpture. Art inventory appeals to the established as well as beginning collector. The gallery works closely with art advisors, designers, corporations and museums to expand and enrich their varied collections.

Charlie Hewitt
Charlie Hewitt, b.1946, is an American painter, printmaker, and public artist. His works are part of the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum, New York Public Library, and Library of Congress. He has also been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is the only artist to have a permanent public sculpture, "Urban Rattle," on the High Line in New York City.

The Hopeful Project 
Artist Charlie Hewitt began The Hopeful Project, 2019-present, with a single lighted aluminum sculpture commissioned by Speedwell Projects for the roof of their headquarters in Portland, Maine. To date, the Hopeful message has spread with installations across seven states at dozens of different sites, both public and private. Follow along on Instagram at @hopeful_project.

CONTACT:         

Barbara Wagner    
Barbara Wagner Communications        
(917) 751-4387 
[email protected]                                 

Juliana Ferre                
Barbara Wagner Communications 
(787) 568-3876          
juliana@bwagnerpr.com    

SOURCE Jim Kempner Fine Art