BIOGRAPHY
ABOUT
Jeremy Holmes enjoys working with wood in less conventional ways in order to expand the form and function of this most practical of building materials. He starts by using traditional woodworking techniques in order to make very thin boards. For this exhibition, Holmes has chosen to work entirely with hardwoods, such as white ash, cherry, and black walnut, even combining the different woods in some of the same sculptures. After the boards are made, he soaks them over a period of time in order to soften the wood just enough to allow him to bend the boards into abstract compositions. Following this free-form bending process, he then joins and sands each sculpture into its final permanent and interconnected state.
Holmes describes the process of torqueing a raw, solid material like wood as somewhat random and uncertain. Even as he is bending the wood in a particular direction, the exact outcome is never entirely certain. While Holmes may start the sculpting process with an intention, he often allows for a certain amount of randomness to occur should a new idea overtake his original plan.
Says Holmes, “With each finished sculpture, my own curiosity remains suspended in the completed piece, which keeps the creation of each work exciting for me.” The end result for Holmes is that action, spontaneity, and improvisation can be combined with material and methodology in the quest for a beautiful art object.
Jeremy Holmes room installation at Lanoue Gallery, Boston from Lanoue Gallery on Vimeo.
EDUCATION
2007 State University of New York at New Paltz
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Sculpture
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Intertwine, Lanoue Gallery, Boston, MA.
2021 Finding (A)Symmetry, Lanoue Gallery, Boston, MA.
2019 Hardwoods, Lanoue Gallery, Boston, MA.
2014 Convergence. Pearlstein Gallery, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA.
2014 Perpetual Curves. Exhibit A Gallery, Corning NY.
2011 ¼ Mile. Vantage Gallery, in part with Art in the Public Eye, Glens Falls, NY.
2009 Seeing Atmosphere. Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown, NY.
2008 Endless Connections. Feast Gallery. Saratoga, NY.
2008 Conversations. Kingston Museum of Contemporary Art, Kingston NY.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 Two person show with painter, Karine Léger, Lanoue Gallery, Boston, MA.
2016 Maximum Craft. Signature Contemporary Gallery. Atlanta, GA.
2016 Defying Perceptions. Heather Gaudio Fine Arts. New Canaan, CT.
2015 Locally Sourced. The Johnson Museum. Cornell University. Ithaca, NY
2014 Into the Woods. The Byrne Gallery, Middleburg, VA
2014 Artolease. Openhouse Gallery, Soho, NY
2014 Atmosphere, Gallery Isabelle Lestmeister, Regensburg, Germany
2013 Forward: an Exhibition of Gallery Artists. Exhibit A, Corning, NY
2012 Up From The Deep, TNC Gallery, NY
2012 Streetwater- Big Lobby Art, Openhouse Gallery, SoHo, NY
2012 Axiome, Gallery Isabelle Lestmeister, Regensburg, Germany
2012 Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Wilderstein Historical Site, Rhinebeck, NY
2012 Stable Exhibition, Exhibit A, Corning, NY
2012 Torqued & Twisted, The Center for Craft and Creativity and Design, Ashville, NC
2011 The Longest Night, The Gowanus Ballroom, Brooklyn, NY
2011 Mvsevm Opening, Paula Lalala Mvsevm, Cornwallville, NY
2011 Emerging Artist Exhibition, Future of the Fingerlakes, Middlesex, NY
2011 Art on the Grounds, The Plantsmen Nursery, Groton, NY
2011 Made in New York Wood Show, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown, NY
2011 Speaking in Tongues, Black Vulture Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Trimania, Buffalo Arts Center, Buffalo, NY
2010 Members Group Show, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
2010 Parallax - Two Person Show, Exhibit A Gallery, Corning, NY
2010 Art In the Heart of the City, Juried Outdoor Exhibition, Ithaca, NY
2010 Arc Angle, Lucky Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2010 Abstracts from 7 Emerging New York Artists, Smithy Gallery, Cooperstown, NY
2009 The Mansion Regional Juried Art Show, Wilbur Mansion, Oneonta, NY
2009 Fluxus Friday, Neuberger Museum, Purchase College, NY
2007 Conversation, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz
2007 Made in New York Wood Show, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown, NY
2007 Nature and Balance, Juried Outdoor Exhibition, Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA
SELECETED COMMISSIONS AND TEMPORARY INSTALLATIONS
2016 Rise. NYC. Permanent Installation
2016 Stamford Health Center, Permanent Installation
2015 Axis. Chicago. Permanent Installation
2015 Grand Thorton. Chicago, IL. Permanent Installation
2015 400 El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA. Permanent Installation
2015 Fort Lauderdale International Airport Permanent Installation Finalist, Florida.
2015 Carnegie Park, New York, NY. Related Company
2014 One Madison, New York, NY. Related Company
2014 Infinite, Donau-Einkaufszentrum, Regensburg, Germany
2014 Holland and Knight Law Firm Permanent Commission, Washington, D.C.
2013 Allentown Pediatrics, Buffalo, NY
2013 Tapestry Charter School, Buffalo, NY
2013 Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
2012 Tapestry Charter School, Buffalo, NY
2012 Metal Floss Magazine, Openhouse Gallery, SoHo, NYC
2012 Streetwater - Big Lobby Art, Openhouse Gallery, SoHo, NYC
2012 Cherry Valley Summer Sculpture Trail, Cherry Valley, NY
2012 Mountain Jam Music Festival, Hunter Mountain, NY
2012 Wilma M. Sherrill Center: Health and Fitness Center, UNC at Asheville
2011 New Park Private Grounds, Ithaca, NY
2011 Mountain Jam Music Festival, Hunter Mountain, NY
2011 Pure Design Building, Corning, NY
2010 Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
2010 Great Blue Heron Music Festival Commission, Sherman, NY
2010 Mountain Jam Music Festival, Hunter Mountain, NY
2010 Pure Design Building, Corning, NY
2009 Foothills Performing Art Center Commission, Oneonta, NY
2009 Hoffman Lane Bistro Restaurant, Cooperstown, NY
2008 Sodus Art Bank, Sodus, NY
ART FAIRS
2016 Art Toronto. Canada
2016 Scope, NY
2016 Art Bodensee, Austria
2016 Art Karslruhe, Germany
2015 Art Toronto, Canada
2015 Hamptons Art Fair, NY
2015 Silicon Valley Art Fair, California
2015 Toronto Art Fair, Canada
2015 Art Fair Karslruhe, Germany
2015 Art.Fair, Cologne, Germany
2014 Aqua Art Fair, Miami, Fl
2014 Singapore Art Fair, Singapore
2014 Affordable Art Fair, Hamburg, Germany.
2014 Bloom: The Creative Industries Art Show, Cologne, Germany
2013 Singapore Art Fair, Singapore
2013 Bloom: The Creative Industries Art Show, Cologne, Germany
2013 Echo Art Fair, Buffalo, NY
2013 London Art Fair, London, UK
2012 Singapore Art Fair, Singapore
2012 Bloom: The Creative Industries Art Show, Cologne, Germany
2012 Echo Art Fair, Buffalo, NY
2011 Echo Art Fair, Buffalo, NY
2010 Bloom: The Creative Industries Art Show, Cologne, Germany
RESIDENCIES/VISITING ARTIST/LECTURES/ART RELATED EXPERIENCE
2013 Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts. Lecturer. Ithaca, NY
2013 TEDx Cortland, Lecturer and Stage Design. Living Smart Well, Now Cortland, NY
2012 College Art Association 100th Annual Conference, Lecturer, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Visiting Artist, Tapestry Charter School, Buffalo, NY
2012 Artist in Residence, University of North Carolina at Asheville, NC
2008 Sodus Art Bank Residence, Sodus, NY
2008 Anderson Ranch School of Arts, Snowmass Village, CO
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2014 SOS Grant Award Winner
2011 CAP Fellowship Award Winner for Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY
2010 WOW Award, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
2009 WSKG Art Competition Award, Binghamton, NY
2009 Sculpture Award, Mansion Regional Juried Art Show, Oneonta, NY
2008 Wingate Fellowship Award, The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, Hendersonville, NC
2007 Most Outstanding Art Department Graduate, SUNY New Paltz. NY
2007 Dr. Edwin A. Ulrich Fine Arts Memorial Scholarship, New Paltz, NY
PUBLICATIONS
2016 ArtDaily.org. “Donald Groscost, David Burdeny and Jeremy Holmes exhibit at Heather Gaudio Fine Art” March 2016.
2016 New England Home. Sculpture Image. January Issue, 2016
2014 Philadelphia Inquirer. “Jeremy Holmes- The Lure of Lumber” by A.D. Amorosi. August 6.
2013 Mental Floss Magazine. “On Bending Trees” Jan/Feb Issue
2013 Buffalo Times. “Hands-on project gives students real-world art experience” Arts and Life Section. By Colin Dabkowski
2009 NPR “Seeing Atmosphere” Interview with WSKG's Bill Snyder. NPR artist interview 2008 Chronogram Magazine. “You had to be there” by Beth Wilson
PRESS
2019 The Boston Globe, A Ribbon of Flight and Grace, Cate McQuaid, 5/31/19
You may ask: A coil of hardwood? Indeed. Holmes works with hardwood veneer — cherry, in the case of his exuberant installation at Lanoue Gallery. He soaks the thin planks in water to soften them up. The artist bends the sodden planks and clamps them until the moisture seeps out and the wood holds its form.
He attached the ones in this untitled piece end to end, and packaged them in a coil ready to unfurl and suspend from the ceiling with nearly invisible microfilaments. It’s a loose, ribbony tangle, lolling yet energetic. Standing in the middle of it, I felt elated and at ease, as if there were no hard angles in life, no weight of gravity. Just flight and grace.
The piece fills a space that used to be Kabinett’s main gallery, and Samson’s before that. Lanoue has now annexed it, and mounted this unusually ambitious installation for a local commercial gallery.
Holmes’s smaller wall and pedestal works are on view in Lanoue’s central space. They’re all closed loops of curled hardwood — a rooted, stubborn material that the artist appears to at once tame and liberate. Most are naked wood, but sometimes he paints one side, imbuing the in-and-out folds with more percussive rhythm.
His symmetrical pieces are too tamed, too pretty, like giftwrap bows. I prefer the unpredictable lines of asymmetrical works such as the white ash “Untitled (Horizontal Blue),” painted with Aegean blue. It takes a deep dive at the center, then thrusts jazzily to the right like a Bob Fosse dancer.
For his most recent pieces, “Broaden” and “Expansive,” Holmes sculpts wider planks, roughly 10 or 11 inches across. They are even more challenging to manipulate. Yet they feel generous and substantive, their curves a great embrace. Like lasagna noodles rather than tagliatelle, you know they will hold more sauce.
JEREMY HOLMES: HARDWOODS
At Lanoue Gallery, 450 Harrison Ave., through June 16.