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Christy DeHoog • Profile
Christy DeHoog creates worlds that are filled with buzzing contraptions, softly rendered buildings, and abstracted worldly forms. Her paintings create arenas for open-ended narratives and relationships between organic, breathing machines and their fanciful environments. Often times DeHoog arranges her characters and settings to reflect the tension of opposites. She explains, "Playing with the attraction of opposites interests me: beauty/ugliness, captivity/escape, macrocosm/microcosm, whimsy/danger."
From an early age Christy DeHoog was fascinated by the workings of the natural world. She writes, "As a child I spent much of my playtime making discoveries in the backyard. The yard led to woods with a nearby swamp that housed many "specimens" to collect and observe under my father's microscope." This view of tiny worlds under and around us influenced DeHoog tremendously. "I realized then that the world was not only huge, but also contained in a drop of swamp water on a glas slide." Her work attests to this discovery and to the child-like exuberance that fueled it.
DeHoog graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Illustration from California State University in Long Beach after earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Illustration from Kendall College of Art and Design in 1992. Her work has been exhibited on both the East and West Coasts as well as in West Michigan.
Christy DeHoog • Statement
My understanding of the world around me is primarily attained through visual experience and its accompanying sensations. As a child I spent much of my playtime making discoveries in the backyard. The yard led to woods with a nearby swamp that housed many "specimens" to collect and observe under my father's microscope. I realized then that the world was not only huge, but also contained in a drop of swamp water on a glass slide. Just as Dr. Seuss' Horton heard the Who on a speck of dust, I could see my own Who-ville in that drop of swamp water, each cell pumping with life.
For the most part, my work is image-based and narrative in nature. The impression that something is about to happen or has just occurred is strongly implied. Playing with the attraction of opposites interests me: beauty/ugliness, captivity/escape, macrocosm/microcosm, whimsy/danger. Dimensionality becomes ambiguous in the work - a ball might be simultaneously round and flat; space might seem to recede and come forward in the same picture plane; a sense of gravity and antigravity coincide.
Process is a very important factor from the beginning. Through process, forms mutate within the piece and unexpected and exciting changes happen. Curlicues become eggs become wheels. Boxes become cages become fragile linear constructions become thread-like nets become nearly invisible webs.
Through painting I develop my own visual vocabulary. The more I experiment and take risks within the work, the more articulate my visual language becomes.
Christy DeHoog • Biography
EDUCATION
1999
Master of Fine Arts in Illustration, California State University, Long Beach, California
1997
Hallmark Summer Internship Program, Hallmark, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri
1992
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration, Kendall College of Art and Design, Grand Rapids, Michigan
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2007
LaFontsee Galleries, "2007-d", Grand Rapids, Michigan
2006
TaigMarks, Inc., Solo Exhibition, Elkhart, Indiana
LaFontsee Galleries,"Five," Grand Rapids, Michigan
Ford Gallery, "Great Lakes Drawing Biennial," Juried Regional Exhibition, Eastern Michigan University, Yipsilanti, Michigan; received Honorable Mention
Kendall College of Art and Design, "360: Illustratiors Come Full Circle," Invitational Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2005
Ambient Gallery, Grand Opening Exhibition, Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Muskegon Museum of Art, "77th Regional Arts Competition," Juried Exhibition, Muskegon, Michigan
LaFontsee Galleries, "April Fools: Paintings or Prints?" Grand Rapids, Michigan
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. "Live Coverage," Grand Rapids, Michigan
2004
LaFontsee Galleries, "UNADULTerated," Grand Rapids, Michigan
2003
LaFontsee Galleries, "Holiday Muse," Group Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Kendall Collage of Art and Design, "75 Years of Alumni," Juried Alumni Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan; received First Place Award
Subspace Contemporary Art, "Never See What You Believe," Invitational Group Exhibition, Berlin, Germany
Alder Art Gallery, "La Petite X," Juried National Exhibition, Coburg, Oregon
2002
Vesuvius Art Gallery, "By Sticks, Legs or Wheels," Two-Person Exhibition: Christy DeHoog Johnson and Marc R. Johnson, Glenn, Michigan
Lemon Street Gallery, "Annual Juried Exhibition," Juried Regional Exhibition, Kenosha, Wisconsin; received First Place Award
Eastern Michigan University, "Michigan Drawing Biennial," Juried Regional Exhibition, Ypsilanti, Michigan
Lowell Area Arts Council, "West Michigan Regional," Juried Exhibition, Lowell, Michigan
2001
Little Cities Gallery, Holiday Show, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Vesuvius Art Gallery, "Telling Stories," Three-Person Exhibition, Glenn, Michigan
Muskegon Museum of Art, "73rd Regional Arts Competition," Juried Exhibition, Muskegon, Michigan
Grand Rapids Art Museum, "Festival 2001 Regional Arts Competition," Juried Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Vesuvius Art Gallery, "Heart's Desire," Glenn, Michigan
LaFontsee Galleries, "Winter Presents…," Grand Rapids, Michigan
2000
LaFontsee Galleries, "NEW," Grand Rapids, Michigan
Muskegon Museum of Art, "72nd Regional Arts Competition," Juried Exhibition, Muskegon, Michigan
Bush Gallery, "Recent Works," Providence, Rhode Island
Grand Rapids Art Museum, "Festival 2000 Regional Arts Competition," Juried Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan; received Festival Cash Award
Grand Salon, Amway Grand Hotel, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1999
Channels Internet Cafe and Gallery, Two-Person Exhibition, Providence, Rhode Island
Artscape Gallery, "Garden," Solo Exhibition, Long Beach, California
University Art Museum, "Insights '99," California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California; received Department of Illustration Merit Award
California State University Long Beach, "Annual Juried Graduate Exhibition," Long Beach, California; received Best of Show Award
Kendall College of Art and Design, "Annual Kendall Juried Competition," Grand Rapids, Michigan
Saddleback College, "Another View: Selected Works from Contemporary American Printmakers," Mission Viejo, California
Arts Center Gallery, "Off the Press, The Los Angeles Printmaking Society Student Member Exhibition," North Hollywood, California; received First Place Award
1998
The Banner Magazine, "The Banner Art Competition," Juried Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan; received Third Place Award
University Art Museum, "Insights '98," California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California
California State University Long Beach, "Something Peculiar is in My Tea," Solo Exhibition, Long Beach, California
California State University, "Odyssey," Long Beach, California
1997
California State University, "Insights '97," Long Beach, California
California State University, "Odyssey," Long Beach, California
1995 - 96
San Francisco Women Artists' Gallery, Group Exhibitions, San Francisco, California
HONORS & AWARDS
2003
First Place Award, Kendall Collage of Art and Design, "75 Years of Alumni," Juried Alumni Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2002
First Place Award, Lemon Street Gallery, "Annual Juried Exhibition," Juried Regional Exhibition, Kenosha, Wisconsin
2000
Featured Cover Artwork, On The Town Magazine, Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 2000
Festival Cash Award, Grand Rapids Art Museum, "Festival 2000 Regional Arts Competition," Juried Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1999
Merit Award, Department of Illustration, University Art Museum, "Insights '99," California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California
Best of Show Award, California State University Long Beach, "Annual Juried Graduate Exhibition," Long Beach, California, juror Peter Frank
First Place Award, Arts Center Gallery, "Off the Press," The Los Angeles Printmaking Society Student Member Exhibition, North Hollywood, California
1998
Third Place Award, The Banner Magazine, "The Banner Art Competition," Juried Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1998 Scholarship Award, Forty-Niner Shops, Inc., Long Beach, California
1997
Hallmark Summer Internship Program, participant, Hallmark, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
- Buckley/Friedman Advertising and Public Relations, Costa Mesa, California
- Gilda's Club, Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Genesee Valley Library, Flint, Michigan
- Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, Grand Rapids, Michigan
