Mezzanine Gallery


Aaron Keith Hoffer at the Mezzanine Gallery

Unspoken Trajectories

On view March 1-28, 2024

three abstract paintings by Aaron Keith Hoffer

The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents Aaron Keith Hoffer’s exhibition, “Unspoken Trajectories,” on view from March 1-28, 2024. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, March 1 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Hoffer’s show will include dozens of abstract paintings ranging in size from large canvases to small works and sketchbooks. The paintings in the show will invite viewers’ imaginations to wander and discover meaning, similar to how one might study clouds and find shapes.

Hoffer starts his paintings with an abstract layer made by adding shapes and lines with no result in mind. The artist then spends time studying the first phase and responds with a new layer after the work reveals a direction. He deliberately uses materials that are not intended to go together to achieve unusual visual effects.

“I work backwards from cacophonous overstimulation, allowing subjects to emerge. I then cross from spontaneous to exacting, carefully cultivating concrete imagery. Emerging subjects are tinged with my reverence for the absurd and contradictory nature of consciousness and reality,” Hoffer said.

Hoffer started mixing different materials out of necessity by using what he had and what was free when he started this practice a decade ago. Today, he continues the practice of combining incompatible materials to surprise himself and create novelty.

Hoffer received a 2024 Emerging Fellowship in Painting from the Delaware Division of the Arts. He works and teaches painting and drawing at the Dover Art League.

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

Images in the banner: Pink Skull, 2022, mixed media on polystyrene, 10” x 10”; The Panel, 2021, mixed media on board, 6” x 9”; Cobra Spell, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 16” x 20”


Mezzanine Gallery Application

The Mezzanine Gallery, located in the Carvel State Office Building in Wilmington, features one-person exhibitions of Delaware artists in disciplines including painting, photography, sculpture, crafts, folk, and media arts.

To be considered for an exhibition, artists may submit a Mezzanine Gallery Application before the annual deadline of March 15.


Individual Artist Fellowship Application

Delaware’s Individual Artist Fellowships recognize artists for their outstanding quality of work and provide monetary awards. Individual Artist Fellows are publicly acknowledged and benefit from the additional exposure to their work. Visual artists who receive Individual Artist Fellowships are also given the opportunity to exhibit in the Mezzanine Gallery.

To be considered for a Fellowship, artists may submit an Individual Artist Fellowship Application before the annual deadline of August 1.

 

Join our Gallery list

 

Visit the Gallery


Hours

Monday – Friday
8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Photo ID required after 4:30 p.m.


Parking 

On-street and garage parking available


Admission

Free and open to the public.

 

About the Gallery

The Mezzanine Gallery presents solo exhibitions of work by Delaware artists in disciplines including painting, photography, sculpture, crafts, folk, and media arts.

This opportunity is available to Delaware’s emerging and established visual artists who have won Individual Artist Fellowships, or have been chosen by the Division’s annual Gallery Panel.

 

Opening Reception

Held the first Friday of the month from 5-7 p.m. Dates are subject to change.

 

Upcoming Exhibitions

Aaron Hoffer*

March 1-28, 2024
Opening Reception: March 1 from 5:00pm-7:00pm

Erin Schwinn

April 5-26, 2024
Opening Reception: April 5 from 5:00pm-7:00pm

 

Division logo with puzzle piece effect

Our annual exhibition schedule runs from
September to August, with a new exhibition
every month except in January.
*2024 Individual Artist Fellow

 

 


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