Shea Hembrey
Newport, AR
Residency: July-August 2017
Shea Hembrey grew up on a dirt road in rural Hickory Grove, Arkansas in a family of farmers, factory workers, hunters, trappers, musicians, and cockfighters. He continues to use that family farm where he grew up as a source for materials in his studio work and as a base for multiple projects.
His creative practice questions reality. He seriously explores our best current understanding of the structure of reality while also often playing trickster. Currently, that exploration questions our contemporary view of the universe as revealed through physics.
Though always focused on developing new technical skills on his own, he has a varied formal art education. His nine years of studying art at university include a year spent studying Maori art in New Zealand and an MFA from Cornell University.
His 2011 release of SEEK, a biennial of art showcasing the work of 100 artists—all of whom he invented and created the artwork for himself, garnered widespread attention. The project was featured in a TED talk, a half-hour NPR interview, and in a six page profile in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. This biennial aimed at a broad, general audience was a compelling exploration of what truly makes art meaningful while slyly questioning the business practices and hype of the contemporary art world.
He is currently represented by Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in New York and by the Wylie Literary Agency.