Bio
Linda Hesh combines the personal and political playing with taboos and challenging social norms in a variety of media. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she lived in New York City, Alexandria, Virginia and recently moved to the Netherlands. Text, photography and a multitude of materials comprise her public interactive artworks along with works for exhibition. Her interactive pieces have been in Saint Petersburg, Russia; Chicago, IL; Washington, DC; New York City and Haarlem, the Netherlands. "Linda Hesh's All Gay Review" was her most recent solo exhibit in Washington, DC. Her art is held in public collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Kinsey Institute, and The Library of Congress. The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Huffington Post have featured her art.
Resume
Education
B.F.A. University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Graduate study at University of Wisconsin at Madison
M.F.A. State University of New York at New Paltz
Interactive Public Art Projects
"Put the I into C_vic", International By the People Festival, Smithsonian Arts & Industry Bld, Washington, DC, June 21-24, 2018
"Put the I into C_vic", Arlington, VA, October 15, 2016 - June 20, 2018
"Thinking of You, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA, July 22,2017
"Put the I into C_vic", Arlington, VA, October 15, 2016- October 31, 2017
"Thinking of You" Bunker Projects Performance Art Festival, Pittsburgh, PA, June 10-11, 2016
"Chance Meeting Doorknob Hangers", RECALL Art in Odd Places Festival, 14th St. New York,NY Oct 7-11, 2015
“Directional Doorknob Hangers" Rapid Pulse International Performance Artl, Defibrillator Gallery, Chicago, IL, June 5-15, 2014
“Kissing Booth" (e)merge Art Fair, Washington, DC, Oct. 3-6, 2013
“TRUST and DOUBT Bench Project" SuperNoVa Public Arts Festival, Arlington, VA, June 7-9, 2013
“Art Creates Life Creates Art", Art Prospect Public Arts Festival, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 20-23, 2012
“Art is..." Doorknob Hangers, solo installation, Alexandria, VA August 1-2, 2012
"TRUST and DOUBT Bench Project” Sculpting Outside the Lines, exterior installation, Washington, DC April - Oct. 2012
“ART EVERY DAY” solo temporary installation at Pentagon City Shopping Center Food Court, June 1-30, 2011
“TRUST and DOUBT Bench Project” installation during Artscape & at the Lyric Opera House, Baltimore, MD, July 2009-July 2010
“FOR and AGAINST Bench Project, solo project, Washington, DC Metro area various locations, September – November 2008
Public Art Projects
“Punten” UnnoticedArtFestival, Haarlem,the Netherlands, May 17-18, 2014
“ART EVERY DAY” Permanent installation at Artisphere, Arlington,VA, 2011
“Chance Meeting Doorknob Hangers” part of “Art in Odd Places” 14th St., New York City, NY, October 1-10, 2010
“Desolation Doorknob Hangers” part of “SiteProjectsDC” 14th St. Washington, DC, July 2007
Solos
“Linda Hesh's All Gay Review, Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC 2015
“In The Garden” Lois Lambert Gallery, Bergamot Station, Los Angeles, VA 2013
“In The Garden”Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC, 2010
“FOR and AGAINST Bench Project" Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC 2008
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
Our City, Ourselves: Women Photograph Washington, Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, DC
Cups with a Conscience, Gallery One Visual Arts Center, Ellensburg, WA
2020
My Queer Valentine, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
2019
"The Future of Food" Usagi Gallery, New York, NY
2018
"Ron Pruitt's Flea Market" De La Cruz Gallery at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
"T.N.T. Text" WAS Gallery, Bethesda, MD
"Micro-monuments II, IA&A at Hillyer, Washington, DC
"IMAGINE Peace Now"Kentucky Center for Aftrican American Heritage, Louisville, KY
"IMAGINE Peace Now"Craft Alliance Center fo Art + Design Diemar Loop Gallery, St. Louis, MO
"What Feminism Looks Like" District of Columbia Art Center, Washington, DC
2017
"Create/Change", Hillyer Art Space, Washington DC
"Superfierce", Blind Whino, Washington, DC
"The Unapproved Thought" Artists and Makers Studio, Rockville, IL
"IMAGINE Peace Now" Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
"IMAGINE Peace Now" Pat Harrison Arts Center, New Albany, IN
"IMAGINE Peace Now" Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, Louisville, KY
2016
Landmarks, Cafritz Arts Center, Silver Spring, MD
"IMAGINE Peace Now" Gray Gallery at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
2015
RECALL, The Lodge Gallery, New York, New York
2014
"The Artifacts", Colonel's Row on Governors Island, New York, NY
"Alchemical Vessels Benefit", Joan Hisaoka Gallery, Washington, DC
2013
"Personal Effects", Furthermore, Washington, DC
"Platforms, Katzen Art Center, Washington, DC
2012
“Remixed Messages" organized by Visual Aids during the World Aids Conference, Washington, DC
"Sculpture Now", Edison Place Gallery, Washington, DC.
2011
“Iraqi Memorial”Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY and Works Gallery, San Jose, CA
Sondheim Semifinalists" Baltimore, MD
“BITE”selected by Jefferson Pinder, GRACE, Reston, VA
“Immigration in America” Studio Gallery, Washington, DC
"The Final Girl" Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC
"FLASH" FotoDC, Arlington, VA
2010
“Mixology II” Curator's Office, Washington, DC
“Female Shorts:Film and Video Showcase” Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
“Sculpture” selected by Molly Donovan, Marlboro Gallery, Largo, MD
“Amnesty International Human Rights Arts Festival” Silver Spring, MD
“Iraqi Memorial” Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, Reno, NV
2009
“Bilateral Engagement” Art Museum of the Americas, selected by Laura Roulet,Washington, DC
“Framing the Economic Downturn”, Gallery O, Washington, DC
“Image/Project”, selected by Taryn Simon,Arlington Art Center, Arlington, VA
"Kinsey Institute Exhibition" Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
"Redefining the Environment" Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC
"Sweet Escape: Exploring Liberty" Gallery RFD, Swainsboro, GA
“A Relationship Left for Dead on the Lower East Side” Cuchifritos, New York, NY
2008
Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC
“Once Again, Again: Rhythm and Repetition” selected by Annie Gawlak, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean,VA
“Cool Globes”Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
“15 for Philip: Fifteen Artists Portray Arts Patron Philip Barlow”, Curator’s Office, Washington, DC
“Dispassionate Discourse: Examining Racial Disparities”, Whitespace, Winston-Salem, NC
“Prognosis of Death” Ashland University, Ashland, OH
“Conflict” GRACE, Reston, VA
2007
“The Trawick Prize”, selected by Anne Ellegood, Bethesda, MD
"Social Justice", Columbus School of Law, Catholic University, Washington, DC
“Arts Council Annual”, selected by Irene Hofmann, Awarded First Prize, GRACE, Reston, VA
“Justice for All” Gallery M Squared, Houston, TX
“SiteProjectsDC”, curated by Welmoed Laanstra, outdoor installation, Washington, DC
“Portraits”, Pass Gallery, Washington, DC
“Exhibition 280” Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
"The Ring Show: Then & Now”, National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis, TN
2006
“Other than Art”, curated by Milena Kalinovska, G Fine Art, Washington, DC
“Born Again Dada” curated by J. W. Mahoney, District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington, DC
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids , MI
“+es+ pa++erns” Artscape, Pinkard Gallery at MICA, Baltimore , MD
“Photo 06”, Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, VA
2005
“radius 250”,selected by John Ravenal, Artspace @ Plant Zero, Richmond, VA
“Unlocked”, selected by Andrea Pollan, Arts Council, VA
“Seven”, curated by F. Lennox Campello, Warehouse Gallery, Washington,DC
“In Focus” ,selected by Sarah Kennel, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
“State of the Art”, curated by Semmes Gardner, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
“Voices”, Edison Place Gallery, Washington,DC
2004
“(In)visible Silence”, curated by Sanford Biggers, School 33, Baltimore, MD
“Artomatic”, Washington , DC
“78th Annual International Photography Competition”, selected by Darsie Alexander, The Print Center,Philadelphia, PA
“Anonymous”, Flashpoint, Washington, DC
“In2Words”, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
2003
Lois Lambert Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica , CA
“New American Talent”, selected by Dominic Molon, Arthouse at Jones Center, Austin, TX and traveling
“National”, selected by Marc Pachter, awarded outstanding in any media, Cambridge Art Association,
Cambridge, MA
“International Photography”, selected by Philip Brookman, Fraser Gallery, Bethesda, MD
“Fully Integrated”, Dega Gallery, McLean, VA
2002
“Color, Culture, Complexity”, Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta, GA
“Globalization”, A Shener Velt Gallery, Los Angeles, California
“Self Portrait”, FlowGaleria, website gallery, Vancouver, U.S. Virgin Islands
“Digitally Propelled Ideas”, W.Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery, Pomona, CA
“Witness and Response: September 11 Acquisitions at the Library of Congress”, Washington, DC
“All Media” selected by Claudia Gould, Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, VA
“Regarding Beauty”selected by Deborah Willis, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX
“An Art Critic’s Choice”, selected by Michael O’Sullivan,Studio Gallery, Washington, DC
“Not Yet Titled” selected by Chan Chao, Washington Projects for the Arts / Corcoran, Washington, DC
“Selected by Robert Rosenblum”, Viridian Artists @ Chelsea, New York, NY
“Matter as Protagonist” selected by Jessica Stockholder, Creative Arts Workshop,New Haven, CT
“Krappy Kamera Competition” selected by Barbara Millstein, SOHO Photo Gallery, New York, NY
“Reactions” Exit Art, New York, NY
2001
“Anne Barlow Exhibition” MOCADC, Washington DC
"Digital Salon"selected by Jack Rasmussen, received a Jurors’s award, Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Laurel, MD
"Fetish" Gallery Flux, San Francisco, CA
"Annual Competition" The Photo Review magazine
"Self" Columbia Art Center, Columbia, MD
"Small Works" Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC
"Click" PASS Gallery, Washington, DC
"Millennium" Artemis Gallery, Richmond, VA
Awards
Recognition for Community Engagement and Social Activism in Public Art, Americans for the Arts 2011
Public Collections
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The Kinsey Institute, Bloomington, IN
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA
Sheppard Pratt Collection, Baltimore, MD
DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, Washington, DC
The Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Private Collections
Paul Greenhalgh
Lisa Gilotti and Philip Barlow
Grants and Fellowships
Strauss Fellowship, 2017, 2012, 2008
Hamiltonian Artists, Washington, DC 2008-10
Individual Artist’s Grant, Prince George’s County Arts Council, September 2003
Critical Essays
Jenkins, Mark, The Washington Post, "T.N.T. Text" December 30, 2018, pg. E7
Meier, Allison, Hyperallergic, "Art in Odd Places Revists a Decade of Fleeting Experiences" Oct 12, 2015, work pictured.
O'Sullivan, Michael, The Washington Post, "5 to Watch (Spring Arts Preview) pg E20
Jenkins, Mark, The Washington Post, August 24, 2014, "Shelfworks", pg E3
Berg, Miriam, The Washington Post Express, October 3, 2013, "Art-Break Hotel", pg E5
Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post, Sept. 13, 2013, "Personal Effects", pg W18(work pictured)
Matveeva, Anna, Time Out Saint Petersburg, Sept. 11, 2012"Art Prospect Festival" pg 100
Where Magazine St. Petersburg, Sept. 2012, "Taking Art to the Masses", pg 87
Brandon Wetherbee, Huffington Post online, August 28, 2012, "My DC with Linda Hesh,Artist Outside of the Gallery" (work pictured)
Shannon McNeely, Northern Virginia Magazine,July 2011 “A Bite Out of Life” pg 14 (work pictured)
Jean Cohen, Washington DC Where Magazine, July 2011, “In the Garden” pg 23 (work pictured)
Erin Williams, The Washington Post, June 5, 2011, “Art in Daily Life” pg E2
Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post, June 1, 2011, “Art All Over” pg 4EZ (work pictured)
Jean Cohen, Washington DC Where Magazine, January 2011, pg 14“Skin Deep” (work pictured)
Maura Judkis, The Washington City Paper, March 12, 2010, “This Week's Best”
Branwyn, Gareth, boingboing.com, Feb. 4, 2009, "Linda Hesh's Bench Project"front page (work pictured)
Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post, September 12, 2008, “Take a Stand by Having a Seat” (work pictured)
Christine Kloostra, American Style Magazine, June 2008, “Do Not Disturb” (work pictured)
Penelope Green, The New York Times, February 7, 2008, "To Darken Someone's Doorstep, or Perhaps Your Own" (work pictured)
Tom Patterson, The Winston-Salem Journal, February 3, 2008, "Pulling No Punches"
Kriston Capps, The Washington City Paper, February 1, 2008, "Collector Geeks"
Claudia Rousseau, The Bethesda Gazette, September 19, 2007, "Politics, Social Issues Dominate Trawick Winners"
Janet Rems, Fairfax County Times, July 4, 2007"Arts Council, GRACE Join Forces" (work pictured)
Jonathan Padget, The Washington Post, December 9, 2004, “Linda Hesh and the $2,828 Questions” (work pictured)
Michael O’Sullivan, The Washington Post, December 10, 2004, “In Baltimore, Seeing the (In)visible” (work pictured)
Glenn McNatt, The Baltimore Sun, December 21, 2004, “Artists Break the Silence”
Edward J. Sozanski, The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 7, 2004, “Balanced Images”
Jessica Dawson, The Washington Post, February 20, 2003, “Galleries”
William Zimmer, The New York Times, June 9, 2002, “When Humble Materials Interact”
Michael O’Sullivan, The Washington Post, September 13, 2002 “Mourning, Still a Work in Progress” (work pictured)
Publications
"Emergency Index-An Annual Document of Performance Practice Vol.6", Katie Gaydos, Ugly Duckling press, pg 16-17
"Emergency Index-An Annual Document of Performance Practice Vol.5", Yelena Gluzman and Matvei Yankelevich, Ugly Duckling press, pg 286-287
"IMAGINE Peace Now" exhibition catalog
“Emergency INDEX-An Annual Document of Performance Practice Vol.2" work pictured pg 474-5
"Unnoticed Art" by Frans van Lent, RAD Dordrecht, Netherlands, pg 42
“Alchemical Vessels"Joan Hisaoka Gallery Exhibition Catalog,pg 42, 2014
“100 Artists of Washington, DC" by F. Lennox Campello, Schiffer, 2011
“Catalyst:35 Years of the WPA" Washington Project for the Arts, 2010
“Exploring Color Photography,4th edition” by Robert Hirsch, McGraw-Hill, 2005
“Bilateral Engagement" catalog from the Museum of the Americas, exhibit curated by Laura Roulet, 2009 “Exploring Color Photography,4th edition” by Robert Hirsch, McGraw-Hill, 2005
“78th Annual International Competition: Photography” catalog, curated by Darsie Alexander, The Print Center, May, 2004
“Color, Culture, Complexity” catalog, curated by Dan R. Talley and Ed Spriggs, The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, November 2002
Speaking Engagements
Amnesty International Human Rights Arts Festival
Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
Rietfeld Acadamie, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, MD
