NILSON GALLERY
The Nilson Gallery is a 900 square foot space, featuring solo exhibitions from our New Jersey Emerging Artists Series, a unique and exciting program for NJ artists who have never had a one-person show of their work in our state. In addition to our Emerging Artists Series, the Nilson Gallery features community-based collaborative exhibitions and exhibits that highlight the talents of our artist members. While closed due to safety precautions, the Monmouth Museum has set up a Virtual Nilson Gallery to continue to support local artists and the community.
CURRENT SHOW
Unmasked: Portraits from the Zoom Room
May 7 - June 26, 2022
Artist Statement
In March 2020, the world changed; so did the work of Nanci Hersh. The pandemic threw us all into a surreal yet voyeuristic world, presenting a unique opportunity for everyone to be their “unmasked” selves — for better or worse. The elevation of Zoom technology changed how we interacted and gave us a new perspective — bizarrely intimate, both authentic and contrived at the same time.
Nanci Hersh is a contemporary mixed media artist who draws directly from her personal life. Her intention is to reveal our universal connections and to inspire others through her art. Nanci is also an illustrator, educator, arts advocate and former Executive Director of the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education. Born and raised in New Jersey, Nanci was a resident of Monmouth County for many years. Nanci has received numerous honors including three purchase awards from the State Foundation of Culture and the Arts, Hawaii and three Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grants. Her work is included in the Public Collections of Johnson & Johnson, Leland Portland Cement, and OSI Pharmaceuticals to name a few. Nanci also worked with the late Dr. Beth Deutch, founder of Herspace to create and co-curate the Art of Survival, an exhibition of artists who have either had breast cancer or been affected by it through friends or family. Currently, Nanci lives with her family in Landenberg, Pennsylvania in Chester County.
MUSEUM GALLERY HOURS ARE
WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY • 10AM-4PM
RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED
UPCOMING SHOW
The Architecture
of Clothing
July 17 - August 14, 2022
Gallery Opening Reception
Artist Statement
Woman, their lives and their interests have always been at the core of my work.
The duality of the obvious residing alongside the hidden has always intrigued me.
Trained as an architect, I am most comfortable with the planning and building process. Be it wood, plaster or paper, the methods I employ are similar. I plan, often starting with drawing. and then build using a layering process.
When COVID hit our shores, and life as we knew it changed, materials I normally worked with were hard to come by. Cardboard and paper, however, were plentiful. Friends and neighbors were happy to recycle their magazines, leaving them outside my door. With on-line ordering at its height, cardboard was everywhere. It was time to experiment and explore long held interests with new materials.
I have been interested in the sculptural aspects of fashion and the importance of clothing in our lives for awhile. Clothing is, after all, how we present ourselves. it conceals and reveals. Garments themselves are transformational, powerful in provoking respect or disrespect. They can elevate ones status, affect our state of being, create fear or inspire.
With the subject of clothing in mind, I took this opportunity to repurpose paper and cardboard into sculptural reliefs. Original messages, words and images were obliterated as I rolled each sheet. With cardboard as it form and the foundation I created my latest works, The Architecture of Clothing.
MUSEUM GALLERY HOURS ARE
WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY • 10AM-4PM
RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED