Biography

Sheila Hecht is an abstract expressionist painter, guided by her feelings and beliefs, with a recent focus on the environment as a basic human right. Paint itself is the motivating factor for her passionate techniques; interplay of thick impasto, incised marks and strokes, scraping, dripping, and layering, all creating a unifying tension among various elements. This visual impact culminates with a dynamic energy, an abstraction of life itself.

Born and raised in New York City, Hecht earned a Bachelors and Master’s degree from Queens College and always had an uncompromising commitment to explore and develop her own unique creative process.

Hecht has had multiple solo exhibits and participated in many group shows throughout the nation. Most recently, she exhibited in a group show titled “Women on the Edge of Time” with the NY Society of Women Artists at the Taller Boricua Gallery. The theme of her work, which was presented in a video, focused on the environment and the future of our planet that is at risk.

Hecht has been awarded notable Artist Residencies around the world including Fundacion Valparaiso, Mojacar, Spain and the Julia and David White Foundation in San Jose, Costa Rica.

She has exhibited at the Nassau County Museum of Art, The Hammond, Masur, Belskie and Andrew Art Museums as well as The Fine Art Gallery of Long Island. Some of her group shows include: The Albright Knox Gallery, Iona College, Pfizer Art Gallery, Lincoln Center and The George Billis Gallery. Hecht has had multiple solo exhibitions, including the Noho Gallery in Chelsea, NY.

She was the founder and Creative Director of Ten Grace Gallery, in Great Neck, NY. Her work continues to be exhibited and collected by individuals, corporations and foundations, locally and internationally. Hecht maintains her Studio in Long Island City, NY.

Artist Statement

My paintings give evidence of my passionate approach to finding visual correlates to strongly felt experiences. Painterly textures create interplay of visceral energy, fueling my compositions with action and movement. Yet I aim for a rhythmic flow, equilibrium between tumult and composure.

The act of painting is a sensual experience for me, and produces surfaces that prominently display the actions of my hand. I use brushes and palette knives which include thick and thin strokes, layering hues and scraping some away to reveal underlying color.

My process includes both drawing upon spontaneous intuition and deliberate reworking. It is filled with a passionate energy and a volatile movement, which has a life of its own. These compositions incorporate space as a counterpoint to my dynamic gestures. They serve a function akin to that of rests between chords.

Beyond their painterly voluptuousness, my intention is to capture the mystery and spirituality of my abstractions. They reflect my desire to discover and communicate both visual and life experience. I strive to convey a direct and pure response in a work that is at once stimulating and contemplative.

C.V-SHEILA HECHT

EDUCATION

M.F.A. Queens College
B.A. Fine Arts Queens College
Studied with John Ferren and Louis Finkelstein

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2012 Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Split Second Decisions
2010 Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Primary Spirit, No Short-cuts
2008 The Berkeley Gallery, Berkeley College, NYC, NY
2008 Galeria Nacional Museum, San Jose, Costa Rica, Pura Vida
2007 Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Too Hot (Or Not) To Handle
2005 Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Inside Out
2003 Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Through Thick and Thin
2002 Dag Hammarskjold Tower, NYC, NY
2002 The Lobby, Equity Properties, NYC, NY
2001 Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Recent Paintings
2000 AIA Gallery, Great Neck, NY, Markings
1999 AIA Gallery, Great Neck, NY, Abstract Allusions
1994 AIA Gallery, Great Neck, NY, New Work
1993 AIA Gallery, Great Neck, NY, In the Swing

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022

  • International Art Acquisitions, Featured Artist, Sheila Hecht
  • Personaland.com, Spring, (virtual/online)
  • The New York Artists Circle, I Dreamed A Garden, (virtual/online)
  • Taller Boricua Gallery, Evolution/Revolution

2021

  • The New York Artists Circle, Lost & Found, (virtual/online)
  • Taller Boricua Gallery, Women On The Edge Of Time, (virtual/online)
  • NYSWA, Memory Online Exhibition
  • LIC-A Members Showcase

2020

  • Gallery&Studio Art Auction (virtual/online)

2019

  • Flatfile 8X8 (virtual/online)
  • PaintCan Open Studios, LIC, NY

2018

  • Guild Hall, East Hampton NY
  • Belskie Museum, Bergen County NJ, Freedom An Artistic Interpretation
  • Art League, Dix Hills, NY, Insight In Sight
  • The Village Center, Port Jefferson, NY, Form and Fantasy
  • Mikhail Zakin Gallery, Demarest, NJ, Art As Sanctuary 11

2017

  • Saint Peter’s Church, NYC, NY, Art As Sanctuary
  • Carriage Barn, New Canaan, CT, The Primacy Of Color 111

2016

  • George Billis Gallery, Chelsea, NY
  • Samuel J. Wood Library, NYC, NY, Rhapsody in Color
  • PaintCan Open Studios, LIC, NY

2015

  • PaintCan Open Studios, LIC, NY

2014

  • CitiGroup Showcases, LIC, NY, LIC-Artists Showcases
  • Iona College, New Rochelle, NY, Scene and Unseen

2012

  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Be My Guest

2011

  • Hammond Museum, New Salem, NY, Heart of the Artist
  • PaintCan Open Studios, L.I.C., NY
  • 10 Grace Gallery, Great Neck, NY, Five More
  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, 6th Annual Auction.
  • St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, NY, The Art Spirit 2

2010

  • 10 Grace Gallery, Great Neck, NY, Five @10 Grace
  • Johnson & Johnson Corporate Headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ,
  • The Heart: Center of Life, St Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, NY, The National League Of American Pen Women, Inc.

2009

  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Annual Group Show
  • PaintCan Open Studios, L.I.C., NY
  • Broome St. Gallery, NYC, NY, Metropolitan Artists

2008

  • Pfizer Art Gallery, NYC, NY, New York Society of Women Artists
  • Andrews Art Museum, Andrews, NC
  • The Graphic Eye Gallery, Port Washington, NY, Artists Invite Artists
  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Winter Solstice

2007

  • Broome Street Gallery, NYC, New York Society of Women Artists
  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Summer Extravaganza
  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Winter Solstice

2006

  • Harriman Mason Gallery, Art Students League, NY, The Inner Eye
  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, New Orleans In Chelsea
  • Hewlett-Woodmere Gallery, a satellite of Nassau County Museum of Art, Artists Network of Great Neck, Hewlett, NY
  • Pleiades Gallery, NYC, New York, New York Society of Women Artists,
  • Nassau County Museum of Art, Hewlett, NY

2005

  • Carriage Barn Art Center, New Canaan, CT, Society of Women Artists 80th  Anniversary Exhibit.
  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, In The Heat Of The Summer

2004

  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Thinking In Red
  • Art Institute and Gallery, Salisbury, MD, Ivan Karp, juror and Ethan Karp, judge, 13th Annual National Exhibition
  • Flinn Gallery, Greenwich, CT, New York Society of Women Artists
  • Pleiades Gallery, NYC, NY, New York Society of Women Artists
  • Cork Gallery/Lincoln Center, NYC, New York Society of Women Artists

2003

  • Mount Kisko, NY, New York Society of Women Artists
  • The Stage Gallery, Merrick, NY, Phyllis Braff, juror, Abstraction 2003
  • Rudin Judaic Museum, Great Neck, NY
  • Pleiades Gallery, NYC, NY, New York Society of Women Artists
  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, On Ice Exhibition
  • Firehouse Gallery, Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY. Mary Lou Cohalan, juror, Juried Exhibit

2002

  • Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, Manhattan Survey
  • Chung-Cheng Art Gallery, St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY, Eighth Annual National Juried Art Exhibition
  • The Shelter Rock Art Gallery, Manhasset, NY, Artists Network of Great Neck
  • Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA, Mark O’Grady, juror, The 29th Annual Juried Competition
  • Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, NY, curator Franklin Hill Perrell, juror, Painting and Drawing Long Island
  • Rudin Judaic Museum, Great Neck, NY

2001

  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, New Digs Exhibition
  • Great Neck House, Great Neck, NY, first place winner, Alexandra de Luise, juror, Artists Network of Great Neck
  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Anniversary Show

2000

  • Noho Gallery, Chelsea, NY, Sightings/Sitings
  • Great Neck Art Center, Great Neck, NY, Bold Strokes

1999

  • The Chelsea Center, Muttontown, NY, Eleventh Juried Fine Art Exhibit

1998

  • St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY, Catherine Valenza, juror,“5th Annual National Art Exhibit

1997

  • The Fine Arts Museum of Long Island, Hempstead, NY, 15th Annual Juried Exhibit

1996

  • Great Neck House, Great Neck, NY, Artist Network of Great Neck

1995

  • AIA Gallery, Great Neck, NY, Members Exhibition

1994

  • Juried Exhibit, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, NY

1993

  • Citibank, Great Neck, NY, Great Neck Artists

1992

  • AIA Gallery, Great Neck, NY, Members Exhibition

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • McCormack, Ed, “The Allusive Abstractions of Sheila Hecht” New York: Gallery & Studio, April/May 2012
  • McCormack, Ed, “Twelve: Introducing Cuban Painter Among 11 of His Peers” New York: Gallery & Studio, June/July/August 2010
  • McCormack, Ed, “Pure Unfettered Vision:The Brave New Paintings of Action Heroine Sheila Hecht”, New York: Gallery & Studio, Feb / March 2010
  • McCormack, Ed, “Sheila Hecht Turns Up the Heat in Her New Solo at Noho”’ New York: Gallery & Studio, Nov.-Dec.2007/Jan.2008
  • McCormack, Ed, “Ecriture and Energy in the Recent Paintings of Sheila Hecht”, New York: Gallery & Studio, Nov.-Dec.2005/Jan.2006
  • McCormack, Ed, “Sheila Hecht’s Gestural Thrust Prevails Through Thick and Thin”, New York: Gallery & Studio, Nov.-Dec.2003/Jan.2004
  • Sanders, Eaton, “At Noho: A Plethora of Pleasures Preserved On Ice”, New York: Gallery & Studio, Feb./ March 2003
  • Harrison, Helen A., “Hidden Within the Geometry, a Suggestion of Real Things”, New York: The New York Times, Feb. 2003
  • Kreitzman, Wendy Karpel, “Hecht Exhibits at Masur Museum of Art”, Great Neck Record, April 25, 2002
  • Margolis, Andrew, “Noho Gallery Brings a Proud Tradition to Chelsea”, New York: Gallery & Studio, Sept./Oct.2001
  • McCormack, Ed, “Best Foot: Noho Gallery’s 12×12 Invitational”, New York: Gallery & Studio, June/July/ August 2002
  • McCormack, Ed, “Sheila Hecht: Architect of the New Abstraction”, New York: Gallery & Studio, Dec./Jan. 2001

COLLECTIONS and COMMISSIONS

Private collections: New York City, New York; Raleigh, North Carolina; Boston, MA;
Los Angeles and San Diego, CA; St. Paul, MN; New Haven, CT; Chicago, IL, Spain
and The Netherlands

GRANTS and FELLOWSHIPS

The Julia and David White Artists’ Colony, San Jose, Costa Rica
Fundacion Valparaiso, Almeria, Spain

PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS

  • 1974 – 2004 Fine Arts Teacher, various secondary (high) schools, New York City
  • 1980 – present Private art instruction, oil, acrylic, and watercolor painting; sculpture in diverse media; ceramics

MEMBER

  • LICA (Long Island City Artists)
  • National Association of Women Artists
  • New York Artists Equity
  • New York Society of Women Artists
  • New York Artists Circle
  • PaintCan Studios, L.I.C.
  • Artists Network of Great Neck