Delaware News

The Mezzanine Gallery to Exhibit “Unspoken Trajectories” by Aaron Keith Hoffer

Delaware Division of the Arts | News | Date Posted: Thursday, February 29, 2024


Mezz Gallery logo with images

Wilmington, Del. (February 26, 2024) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents Aaron Keith Hoffer’s exhibition, “Unspoken Trajectories,” on view from March 1-28, 2024. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, March 1 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Hoffer’s show will include dozens of abstract paintings ranging in size from large canvases to small works and sketchbooks. The paintings in the show will invite viewers’ imaginations to wander and discover meaning, similar to how one might study clouds and find shapes.

Hoffer starts his paintings with an abstract layer made by adding shapes and lines with no result in mind. The artist then spends time studying the first phase and responds with a new layer after the work reveals a direction. He deliberately uses materials that are not intended to go together to achieve unusual visual effects.

“I work backwards from cacophonous overstimulation, allowing subjects to emerge. I then cross from spontaneous to exacting, carefully cultivating concrete imagery. Emerging subjects are tinged with my reverence for the absurd and contradictory nature of consciousness and reality,” Hoffer said.

Hoffer started mixing different materials out of necessity by using what he had and what was free when he started this practice a decade ago. Today, he continues the practice of combining incompatible materials to surprise himself and create novelty.

Hoffer received a 2024 Emerging Fellowship in Painting from the Delaware Division of the Arts. He works and teaches painting and drawing at the Dover Art League.

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

Images in the banner: Pink Skull, 2022, mixed media on polystyrene, 10” x 10”; The Panel, 2021, mixed media on board, 6” x 9”; Cobra Spell, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 16” x 20”.

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Contact: Andrew Truscott, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications

302-577-8280, andrew.truscott@delaware.gov

The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.

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The Mezzanine Gallery to Exhibit “Unspoken Trajectories” by Aaron Keith Hoffer

Delaware Division of the Arts | News | Date Posted: Thursday, February 29, 2024


Mezz Gallery logo with images

Wilmington, Del. (February 26, 2024) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents Aaron Keith Hoffer’s exhibition, “Unspoken Trajectories,” on view from March 1-28, 2024. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, March 1 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Hoffer’s show will include dozens of abstract paintings ranging in size from large canvases to small works and sketchbooks. The paintings in the show will invite viewers’ imaginations to wander and discover meaning, similar to how one might study clouds and find shapes.

Hoffer starts his paintings with an abstract layer made by adding shapes and lines with no result in mind. The artist then spends time studying the first phase and responds with a new layer after the work reveals a direction. He deliberately uses materials that are not intended to go together to achieve unusual visual effects.

“I work backwards from cacophonous overstimulation, allowing subjects to emerge. I then cross from spontaneous to exacting, carefully cultivating concrete imagery. Emerging subjects are tinged with my reverence for the absurd and contradictory nature of consciousness and reality,” Hoffer said.

Hoffer started mixing different materials out of necessity by using what he had and what was free when he started this practice a decade ago. Today, he continues the practice of combining incompatible materials to surprise himself and create novelty.

Hoffer received a 2024 Emerging Fellowship in Painting from the Delaware Division of the Arts. He works and teaches painting and drawing at the Dover Art League.

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

Images in the banner: Pink Skull, 2022, mixed media on polystyrene, 10” x 10”; The Panel, 2021, mixed media on board, 6” x 9”; Cobra Spell, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 16” x 20”.

###

Contact: Andrew Truscott, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications

302-577-8280, andrew.truscott@delaware.gov

The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.

image_printPrint

Related Topics:  ,


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.