Barry Herem
_____________________4106 Cliff Drive / Everett, WA. 98203 / (425) 257-2056 / ravcoast@aol.com
website: BarryHerem.com
Both the figurative and abstract work of Barry Herem owe much to natural forms and often to essential shapes from the ethnic or "form line" art of the Pacific Northwest Coast. He has renewed and extended these forms into true contemporary art through a knowing reinvention of them, often with a modernistic flair. He works in bronze, cast paper, glass, steel, aluminum plate, silver, fabric,wood and serigraph print form and, most recently, in art glass. He is particularly recognized for instigating innovative use of some of these materials to produce Northwest Coast-style work in addition to his more distinctively personal and abstract work. In conventional Northwest Coast style he was the first to use cast paper (1984), one of the first to utilize bronze (1973), and his pioneering use of enameled aluminum plate and Cor-ten steel dates from 1982. Herem is also noted as a lively lecturer, writer and adventurer. He was born in Michigan in 1941, raised in Portland, Oregon and has lived in Seattle, Washington since 1964. He has attended Portland State University, Brigham Young University, the University of Washington, and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland; he received his B.A. in 1963.
NEWS AND WORKS IN PROGRESS 2005:
· Herem is currently at work on a new project through the Washington State Arts Commission, a sculpture for the Washington State Patrol in Vancouver, Wa.
· the artist is scheduled for a one-man show in a major Seattle gallery. He has recently completed his first work in cast glass, a stylized circular bird figure in blue, two-feet in diameter. Most recently he has completed two large-scale works, one nine feet high in steel the other seven feet high in both yellow cedar and copper plate for a show at the Stonington Gallery in Seattle, WA. He is also continually designing new work in flat steel and aluminum plate from two to eight feet in width.
· Under construction in late 2004 early 2005 are sixteen two by four foot etched glass panels for the Seven Cedars Casino in Sequim, Washington.
· the artist in regularly involved in the production of new small lithographed prints and cards through the management of Taku Graphics of Juneau, Alaska.
· Herem is also currently embarked on his third two-year season presenting public lectures on art throughout the State of Washington under the auspices of Humanities Washington
· the artist is involved with ongoing work for several clients with large steel or aluminum works, in designing rugs, jewelry, fabric, glass, prints and new works in cast paper.
· In May of 2000 Herem installed a twenty-foot kinetic wind vane entitled "Wind Eagle" at Klahowya Secondary school in Silverdale near Seattle, Washington. The work was commissioned by the Washington State Arts Commission and consists of an eight foot stylized eagle standing on wing tip over a thirteen-foot tripod pedestal. Constructed of eight 1/2 inch plates of powder-coated aluminum with stainless steel "feathering," it turns actively in the wind.
· Since 1998 the Herem has produced many original works in steel, paper and aluminum for the Washington State Ferry system, including a 16-foot curvilinear row of salmon in anodized aluminum plate entitled Form line Home Run.
· In 1997 Herem worked with the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa-Hull, Quebec in the development of commercial products (lamps, stencils, furniture) based on that museum's major collection of historic Canadian art.
· From the artist's work as a photographer he designed a large-format photographic display of a rare and monumental collection of Tlingit house posts (known as the Whale House artifacts) for the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa-Hull, Canada.
·Herem frequently produces new jewelry designs for Metal Arts Group in Portland, Oregon, ten of these in the last year.
· Herem is also a writer and his completed book-length manuscript Duane Pasco: a life in the art of the Northwest Coast is pending publication.
· Most recently authored, Bill Reid: Making the Northwest Coast Famous, Winter 1998, American Indian Art Magazine along with many others during the last 30 years.
Selected Art Work In Situ:
· Wind Eagle, a 20-foot wind vane (see above) for the Washington State Arts Commission.
· For Washington State Ferries more than twenty serigraph prints and a dozen steel sculptures on public display in the galley and lounge areas of several Puget Sound vessels.
· All Souls, 24 bronze masks created as a group (based on carved wooden originals) descriptive of the Haida story of Master Gambler and his manipulation of the entry of human souls into the world. Private commission.
· For Alaska Airlines at the Portland, Oregon International Airport, Northern Light, a 42-foot wall sculpture in colored and clear one-inch diameter acrylic rod. 1990 commission.
· Lady Raven, a 13-foot, free-standing animistic sculpture constructed of heavy gauge anodized aluminum plate, hammered copper with patina, and bronze. Private commission, 1990.
· Council, a bronze sculpture of sixteen life-size and larger human faces cast in bronze from carved wooden masks. About 4 X 4 feet. Private commission, 1989.
· Denominations, a five-piece bronze and cedar sculpture in five parts symbolizing commerce. Located in Gateway Tower Branch, Seattle, WA.
EXHIBITIONS AND NOTICE:
Gallery and museum exhibitions have been continuous in one or more American and Canadian cities since 1974, as well as in Berlin, Germany in 1984. These include shows in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, BC, Portland, Seattle, and Anchorage, Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka, Alaska. His work is also listed with the Washington State Arts Commission and in the permanent collections of the Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle.
Current Gallery Exhibitions
· Stonington Gallery, 119 S. Jackson, Seattle, Wash. 98121 (206) 405-4040; Bailey Nelson Gallery, 2001 Western, Seattle (206) 448-7340; Northwest Craft Center, 305 Harrison, Seattle, WA., 98109; Objects of Bright Pride Gallery, Juneau, Alaska; Orca Aart Gallery, 812 N. Franklin, Chicago, II, 60610. Herem's work is also represented by Taku Graphics, 3291 Douglas Highway, Juneau, AK.
SELECTED EXHIBITS AND CLIENTS:
· Northwest Annual, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, Washington, 1992.
· Solo show, Objects of Bright Pride Gallery, New York City, May 1992
· Solo show, Bailey Nelson Gallery, Seattle, May, 1991
· Solo show and masked dance performance by the artist, Stonington Gallery, Seattle, 1989.
· Solo show, three months, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 1987-88
· Works used prominently in television film, "The Last Innocent Man" , 1987
· Solo show, Gallerie Akmak, West Berlin, Germany,1984.
· The American Museum of Natural History (New York), the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago), Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.) and the Royal Provincial Museum of British Columbia (Victoria, BC) have all featured or purchased serigraph works or cards by Herem.
· Corporate clients include AT&T, Boeing Company, Honeywell, McDonald's, Quadrant Corporation, Rainier Bank, Key Bank, King County libraries, Washington State Ferries, US Navy and Lynden Corporation who have all collected cast paper or other works on commission.
· For Alaska Airlines Herem designed posters and prints, uniforms, towels, belt buckles and corporate announcements. In 1980 the artist was featured during a month-long show of these and other larger works in San Francisco. In connection with this show, extensive interviews were given on local TV and radio including a discussion about Northwest Coast-style art conducted and broadcast over National Public Radio.
NOTICE IN BOOKS AND PERIODICALS:
· Use of and significant mention about the artist's work in Northwest Coast and Northwest Coast Style Art, 1995, by Averill and Morris, University of Washington Press.
· Work featured in Southwest Art magazine, Aug. 1991.
.Noted in book, Art in Seattle's Public Places, by James Rupp, photographs by Mary Randlett, University of Washington Press, 1991.
· Barry Herem was also featured in an extensive interview/biography in the Seattle Times, April, 1989, and in the New York Times, March 24, 1985. Further art reference and /or interviews have appeared in Sculpture Magazine, 1990, Northwest Magazine, February, 1988, Seattle Times, January 1, 1988; Portland Oregonian, 1987; San Francisco Chronicle, 1983; and in the airline magazine Air Cal, November, 1984 and Alaska Fest, December, 1978, January, 1979.
· Two of Herem's serigraphs were featured in the large-format book Northwest Coast Indian Graphics by Blackman and Hall, University of Washington Press, 1981.
PUBLIC LECTURES, TEACHING:
Barry Herem is noted as a lively and informed lecturer and writer. As such he has entertained and instructed a wide range of audiences throughout the United States and abroad. Highlights:
· Regularly scheduled lectures at the Stonington Gallery, Seattle, Washington.
· Slide presentations and lectures in cooperation with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), main offices in Washington D.C.; at the Pitt Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the National Park Service, Sitka, Alaska; Alaska State Museum, Juneau; Totem Heritage Center, Ketchikan; the Burke Museum, University of Washington, and for private groups, corporations and public institutions in the Pacific Northwest , San Francisco, Washington D.C., and elsewhere.
· Featured lecturer at the Seattle Art Museum, Jan 1989, March of 1995, Oct. 2000, Feb. 2001
· Popular lecture courses at the Heritage Institute of Antioch University, Seattle and in other Northwest cities; from April, 1989 to present.
· Field director and frequent lecturer for Resource Institute, Seattle, WA. during trips through historic and scenic areas of British Columbia and Alaska aboard a 65 foot schooner, 1989 to 2002.
· Instructor at Daniel Smith Inc. artists' materials outlet; at Wolf Dancer, a private school of Northwest Coast style art on Lopez Island, WA. (continuing) at the Chinook Learning Center, Clinton, WA. 1988 and at North Island College, British Columbia, Cortes Island Campus, 1988.
WRITING, PHOTOGRAPHY, ADVENTURE:
· Barry Herem has authored many articles, book and art reviews for numerous publications including Architectural Digest, Connoisseur Magazine, American Indian Art, Alaska Magazine and many Seattle publications including The Weekly, Seattle Times, Seattle Magazine, and the Ethnic Arts Newsletter of the Seattle Art Museum..
· Co-author of a mammoth 900-page site descriptive volume Native Cemetery and Historical Sites following the field direction of a comprehensive survey of over one thousand native villages, forts and burial sites throughout southeastern Alaska in 19745-75. This project was conducted under the auspices of the native Alaskan corporation Sealaska.
· Herem has recently completed a book-length manuscript about one of the leading artists in Northwest Coast style. Entitled Duane Pasco: a life in the art of the Northwest Coast, it is pending publication.
· Barry Herem is a multiple award-winning poet (Story: the yearbook of discovery, 1968, Four Winds Press, New York, edited by Whit and Hallie Burnett) and regularly published photographer (see Honorable Mention, Archaeology Magazine, Nov-Dec. 1995 and photo of Nuu cha nulth sculpture, Winds of Renewal, p. 137, Time-Life Books, 1996).
· Herem annually spends as much as a month or more each summer on canoe voyages to archaeological sites and scenic areas of the British Columbian and Alaskan coasts.