Bryce Hammond
There is still time to view “Exit Postmodern”, an exhibition of works by New Smyrna Beach native Bryce Hammond, at Arts on Douglas, 123 Douglas St., NSB, which will be on exibit through the end of the month. The exhibition opened Jan. 1 with a very well-attended reception.
The exhibit is divided into three components: Hammond’s established urban landscapers, the Modular Series and Shelving Vilano Beach.
Hammond talks to a couple of young admirers at the opening reception Jan. 1 at Arts on Douglas.
Hammond is a self-taught painter. He credits growing up in the era of postmodern art as an immense influence on his painting style. After graduating from NSB High School, Hammond attended Furman University in Greenville, S.C. While attending college, he joind a crew painting graffiti art and large murals. After graduating from Furman, he moved to Atlanta and started showing his art with a group of other artists. After two years he packed up and head for New York City, where he rented a 10×10 studio, worked in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and would paint and show his work every chance he got, in New York and Atlanta.
Hammonds paintings were subject matter pulled from his every day experiences.
The opening reception for "Exit Postmodern" drew a large crowd to Arts on Douglas.
He painted the interior of his studio, friend’s apartments and exteriors of buildings. He also made notations about his work on the studio wall and realized this documentation was just as interesting as the paintings itself, so he started making all of his notes on canvas, painting over some and leaving others showing. The works were bold, colorful and striking.
Of his art, Hammond says, “The work is still based on my original concept of painting spaces and architecture. The narrative lies in the mind of the viewer, while the imagery and paint manipulation leads the eye.”
In his Modular Series, he has added dimensionality to his paintings through the addition of weathered wood supports and modular forms. Each painting has a sculptural shape, some fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.
Bryce Hammond
The Shelving Vilano Beach series highlights a small beach town north of St. Augustine, from its heyday to modern times. In the 1920s, Vilano Beach was a thriving resort community that boasted a casino and was a haven for northern tourists. After a hurricane destroyed the casino, the town lost its appeal. The works in this series uses photography and mixed media.
Last year, Hammond was selected to participate in a residency with mixed media artist Radcliffe Bailey, the master artist in residence at Atlantic Center for the Arts. This interaction proved to be instrumental in helping him further develop his artistic style. The theme of his new work in Exit Postmodern began to take shape after the successful collaboration.
Two weeks after being chosen for this partnership, Hammond also received notice that he was accepted into the master’s of fine arts program at the University of Central Florida. He continues to hone his artistic skills while in college.
Hammond moved back to his hometown in 1999. He is happily married with two children. Since moving back to Florida, he has received the Florida Foundation Fellowship grant for visual artists from 2000-2002 and the Golden Foundation Fellowship in 2010.
For more information, call Arts on Douglas at 428-1133 or visit Hammond’s web site at www.brycehammondart.com.
