Large-scale paintings by artist Joan Hierholzer are currently featured in an exhibition titled “Transforming Heaven and Earth: Artistic Visions of Technology” at the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft.
“Wings Light” The exhibition, which runs through Aug. 3, features powerful and dramatic murals and paintings of industrial and technological subjects. Intrigued by the role of technology in our civilization, Hierholzer, of Hunterdon County, creates canvases full of color, movement and energy.
She states, “My work reflects the awesomeness of both scientific advances and our natural environment, and a fascination with the convergence of natural and technical wonders.”
New Jersey oil refineries were the original subjects of her work when she began depicting technology in the early 1980s. Her longtime fascination with the space program inspired her to create paintings of space vehicles, capsules and satellites.
Pursuing her interest in technology, Hierholzer visited the Forrestal Center laboratories in Princeton, site of Tokomak fusion research for energy. She was inspired to produce images of scientists at work, accelerators and experimental equipment.
While Hierholzer has also become well known for her landscape paintings and portraits, space and industry continue to influence her work.
Her paintings are included in numerous corporate and private collections, and she is a member of the prestigious National Association of Women Artists, the National Arts Club in New York City and the Portrait Society of America.
The Monmouth Museum is located on the Brookdale Community College Campus, Newman Springs Road, in Lincroft. The Main Gallery and Nilson Gallery are open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $7; Brookdale students and staff with a valid identification and children under the age of 2 are admitted free of charge. For more information, call the museum at 732-747-2266, or visit the Web site at www.monmouthmuseum.org.
 “Space Piercing” |