Statement:

I'll often walk the city streets, camera in hand, waiting for something to entice me. But usually it's something I encounter en route to a frequent destination, drawing my attention a bit longer each trip, until it eventually becomes embedded in my memory, absorbing my thoughts. It's most often a unique characteristic or beauty that lures me. As they make their way into my paintings, I am continuously analyzing my subjects in search for truths and possibilities. I'll first recognize common attributes among subjects. For example, not all are urban, some are bought, some are found, but all seem to be man-made objects that are dirty, old, used, or in some noticeable state of decay. I then ask myself questions about those attributes, such as what it means to decay. This leads to more in depth questions, like why man-made objects are continuously deteriorating when exposed to natural forces, or why it may be that I'm attracted to these specific physical properties. This process of thought continues and the results are undeniably both personal and hypothetical. That is why I title my work by the names of the objects or places they represent, not alluding the viewer to my own dogmas, but leaving the work open to multiple interpretations. Although the work has an intrinsic meaning for me, I believe that ultimately, art is defined not by its creator, but by its spectator.

Biography:

Jack O'Hearn was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1982. Upon graduating from the Art Institute of Boston in 2005, he began exhibiting his work in major cities across the U.S. He is most known for his urban, tromp l’oeil paintings, usually containing a subtle surrealism. Critics have described his work by saying that he “muses over the mundane objects of the everyday,” or that he “salutes to the lowbrow and the overlooked.” Jack O’Hearn spent 2007 living and working in Albuquerque, NM. He now resides in his home state of Massachusetts where in 2008 he received a Fellowship for painting from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. He is also a member of The International Guild of Realism, and Oil Painters of America.