New alt_space Exhibition in March February 14 2020

Bryce Hammond
Broken and Beautiful

On View: March 7 - April 11, 2020
Opening Reception: Sat., March 7, 4-7 PM
Artists Talk: Fri., March 13, 11 AM

About the Exhibition

Bryce Hammond is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator based in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. He is known for his layered, mixed-media paintings that explore human interactions with man-made environments with an emphasis on the architectural structures that humans inhabit and the many forms they take.

For this exhibition, Hammond is presenting a subset of artwork from a larger body of work entitled Structure, in which he explores design similarities between present-day temporary trailer homes and historically enduring Gothic Cathedrals.  For this display at Arts on Douglas titled Broken and Beautiful, Hammond has chosen to highlight work inspired by and created in collaboration with high school and college art students that ties into themes explored in his Structure series. These collaborative efforts can be seen in his piece, We Meant to Stay that incorporates fragments of hall passes into a painting of the Louvre, looming over a row of brightly colored temporary homes in the forefront.

About this series, Hammond explains, “Some of the artworks are based on discussions with the students about their developing portfolios and art practices. Other works were developed with the students’ input and assistance.  Most of the works contain commentary on the students’ transient lives and temporary homes. The figurative paintings incorporate likenesses of the actual students.” 

When asked about the title of this series, he elaborates, “The title Broken and Beautiful is derived from a discussion I had during an Advanced Placement Visual Art Critique. We were talking about how artists have to fail, we have to make something ugly to understand what it takes to make something beautiful. One of the students said, ‘It’s like us, Broken and Beautiful.’”

About the Artist

Bryce Hammond holds an MFA in Emerging Media from the University of Central Florida and a BA in Art History from Furman University, South Carolina. He is known for using a range of techniques and modes of expression in his work, including participatory installation, voyeuristic sound and documentation through paintings and other art objects.  Hammond’s artwork has been featured in solo and group exhibitions around the US at venues including the Morean Art Center, St. Petersburg, FL; the Maitland Arts Center, Maitland, FL; Wynn Bone Gallery, Annapolis, MD; Infusion Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; and Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA amongst others.   His work is included in major corporate and private collections in Florida and throughout the United States. Hammond received the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation Fellowship, Florida Fellowship for the Arts, the Gulnar Bosch Travel Grant and Fiscal Sponsorship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.  In addition to his extensive career as an artist, Hammond is currently the art curriculum specialist for the Volusia County school district. He has been represented by Arts on Douglas since 2000.

Image Above: Bryce Hammond, We Meant to Stay, acrylic on wood, 40 x 30 inches