Born in 1956, in Peoria, Illinois, USA, Julie Heffernan has a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MFA in Painting from Yale School of Art, Connecticut.
Her work can be described as “Magical Realism”. Her “lush self-portraiture utilizes art historical references to present a sensual interior narrative, a self-allegory whose half- hidden political agenda is the literal background of the paintings. The dark, Grimm fairy tale-like undercurrent transforms her aristocratic, operatic portraits into a contemporary vanitas or memento mori, acting as both a stylized fantasy and a Bosch-like warning.”
Heffernan’s work is on display in national and international collections, including the Columbia Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, and the Zabludowicz Art Trust (London, UK). A traveling retrospective of her work was organized by the University Art Museum, University of Albany in 2006. Her paintings have been featured in numerous solo exhibitions across the United States and her work has received critical attention in major publications including Artforum, Art in America, Artnews, and The New York Times. Heffernan currently lives and works in New York, NY.
For more information about Julie Heffernan, visit the source links below.
Sources: Mark Moore Gallery, Catherine Clark Gallery