6-24-2022 4:13pm

Culture Club: Jeff Hersch, July Artist of the Month at Gallery on Main

Donnella Tilery Editor

SOMERVILLE — In July, the Gallery on Main's Artist of the Month series features collage by New Jersey-based artist Jeff Hersch. His work will be on view, and available for purchase, from July 1 through 31, 2022.

Meet the artist at a free opening reception on Saturday, July 2, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Jeff Hersch provides what he calls “analog collages for the modern being.” Like his thoughts, these pieces are often constructed in short, frantic spurts of energy, with bursts of self-doubt, though calm and subtle. These pieces represent Hersch’s “everyday observations and conclusions about the vast world that erratically suffocates us, with little time for a quick escape or chance to relax, as we are currently inhabiting an advanced state of infinite stimulus.”

His works, says the artist, “lend themselves to your own interpretation of meaning—if any—but should also serve as an inspiration and demonstrate the simple notion that you, too, can and should create something, anything, on a regular basis.”

When he’s not hunched over his desk cutting and gluing clippings, Hersch finds the time to play in bands (Glazer, Civic Mimic, Postman Agitator) and volunteer as the executive director of Flemington DIY, a non-profit community arts space in the town where he grew up.

Gallery on Main is open Sundays 11:00 AM–5:00 PM; Mondays through Fridays 10:00 AM–6:00 PM; Saturdays 10:00 AM–5:00 PM and by appointment.