Durant’s personal work is a quest to understand the human condition. As a sculptor his main interests lie in gesture, movement, and pose. His works are at times Illustrative, but always realist, exploring historical, and contemporary narratives—both known, and unknown. While many of the characters that he chooses to sculpt seem to be rooted in the past, they are his own imaginings of things not fully understood. Issues surrounding beauty, the body, and identity, give rise to a version of contemporary mythology that is new, yet seemingly familiar.

The exhibition opens May 11, 2019 and runs through June 9, 2019. Gallery is open Monday – Saturday 10am to 4pm. In June through August galleries are also open Sundays from 10am to 4pm.

Two Skulls, Bronze, 2018

The 2019 Biennale, is the Art League of Hilton Head’s 26th National Juried Exhibition, held every other year across multiple media types. Over $5000 in cash prizes will be awarded. All works of art selected by jurors will be on display at Art League Gallery in the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. This state of the art gallery provides the finest exhibit space with high tourist and community visibility.

The 2019 Biennale judge is Alan Flattmann, an internationally known, award-winning artist accomplished in oil and watercolor and best known for his work in pastel. His book The Art of Pastel Painting is still widely considered the definitive guide to pastel. He is a Pastel Society of America’s Hall of Fame Honoree and an Eminent Pastelist of the International Association of Pastel Societies. Flattmann's work has been featured in over 40 art books and magazines including Plein Air, Watercolor, American Artist, and Pastel Journal.

This exhibition will be free and open to the public at Art League Gallery located inside Arts Center of Coastal Carolina on Hilton Head Island, SC.

Art League of Hilton Head is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization built on a membership of talented artists, art students and arts supporters that work together to advance the mission to support and promote visual arts through exhibition, education, and partnerships.

The exhibition opens May 7, 2019 and runs through June 1, 2019. Gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10am-4pm, Sunday from 12-4pm, and 90 minutes before all Arts Center performances.

Ariadne, Bronze, 2017

The Newburyport Art Association was founded in 1948. The Association brought together artists under the leadership of Sam Sargent, a painter and art teacher and native of Newburyport. The founding members included Laura Coombs Hills, a member of a flourishing group of aspiring women artists in nineteenth century Boston. She rose to national prominence as a painter of landscapes, pastel floral subjects, and miniatures.

The Association’s first exhibition was held in July 1948 at the old courthouse on Bartlet Mall during “Open House” in Newburyport. The Association leased space on Threadneedle Alley, State Street and at the YWCA before purchasing the building at 65 Water Street in 1969. The building is one of the few surviving late eighteenth-century brick buildings on Newburyport‘s waterfront. The historic building houses the NAA’s office, galleries, studio and library.

This is an open-theme exhibit and an annual event. This year’s juror, Christine McCarthy is the Executive Director of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum.

The exhibition opens May 3, 2019 and runs through June 1, 2019.

Gallery is open Tuesday–Saturday 11am to 5pm and Sunday 1pm to 5pm. Galleries closed Mondays.

Join Hatch Street Studios artists and friends in celebration of visual & performing arts on this exciting weekend inspired by the statewide Artsweek! Hatch Street Studios will be offering behind the scenes guided tours, participatory demonstrations, live music, clowning around, dancing, make-and-take arts projects, and an arts market.

Join Hatch Street Studios artists and friends in celebration of visual & performing arts on this exciting weekend inspired by the statewide Artsweek! Hatch Street Studios will be offering behind the scenes guided tours, participatory demonstrations, live music, clowning around, dancing, make-and-take arts projects, and an arts market.

Two Skulls, Bronze, 2018

The Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts is now over 100 years old and continues to carry out the important mission envisioned by our founders. CAFA is the sum of its members. Today, CAFA is proud to count 384 artists as members, with 277 of them having been awarded Elected status. Membership includes painters in all media, sculptors, photographers and creators of fine art in all its forms. 

CAFA has exhibited at the Mystic Museum of Art (MMoA) in Mystic, CT for over 10 years and is happy to be a part of that highly valued art space. The annual juried show is one of the most competitive in all of Connecticut, attracting artists from all over the United States and recently parts of Europe.

The exhibition opens April 19, 2019 and runs through June 1, 2019. Galleries are open 7 days per week, 11am–5pm

Prometheus, Bronze, 2018

This regional exhibition includes artist 18 or older and live in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, or Vermont. Although the Arnot Art Museum maintains a primary focus on representational art, the Museum welcomes the submission of non-objective work for the biennial Regional Exhibitions.

THE ARNOT ART MUSEUM  is located in Elmira, New York USA. Housed in its original 1833 showcase with a grand late twentieth century gallery addition, the Museum displays its permanent collection of seventeenth to nineteenth century European paintings and nineteenth and twentieth century American art. Temporary exhibitions highlight various aspects of the collections and include works from around the world.

The exhibition opens March 16, 2019 and runs through June 14, 2019. Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM, Saturday 12:00 PM to 5 PM, closed Sunday, Monday, and holidays.

Prometheus, Bronze, 2018

The upcoming winter FRESH! group show with have the theme "Naked! What’s nu(de) in contemporary art" with guest artists who will explore the concept of the nude in contemporary art. Artists selected are Michele Voigt, Erik Durant, Maggie Parvaneh, Joseph O'Neill, Fransisco Palomares, Bruno Perillo, Blaire Cahill, Michel Leroy, Ajuan Song, HakChul Kim, Christopher Parrott. The figure, specifically the nude, is arguably the most widely used subject matter in the history of art. From the Venus of Willendorf and Ancient Greece to Picasso and Giacometti, the nude figure has been used formally and conceptually to represent not only the model, but the emotions and ideals of their times and places. In this global world, what does it mean to use the nude in our modern age, particularly with the advent of new materials and technologies, both in the creation and spread of the artwork. How has the tradition carried over, and how has it changed to reflect our society? Historically the nude was viewed in a more “heroic” fashion; from Antiquity to the Renaissance, while there were female nudes, the male nude dominated. There begins a shift in the 1600s and by the turn of the 19th century the landscape of nudes are almost entirely women, a lineage that we are still following today. What is it about the shift in modernity that has shifted the idea of the nude from “heroism” to “vulnerability” or simply more blatant “objectification”. Viewing these artworks allows us a lens with which to see how each culture interprets beauty differently. From the Reubeneque figures to the airbrushed and photoshopped images we see today, how can the way we deal with the figure show us what our modern conceptions of beauty tell us about ourselves? How do the physical characteristics of the human body define a societies’ values? What are the values that society deems important enough to put into art?

The exhibition opens January 17, 2019 and runs through February 8, 2019. Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 AM to 6 PM, closed Sunday, and by appointment Monday.

As a member of the greater New Bedford, MA artist community, my studio is located at Hatch Street Studios. The studios are housed in the historic Hatch Street Mill building in the North end of town. 2nd Saturdays is an opportunity to share with the public my studio practice, demonstrate my techniques, and hold events each month. 

In conjunction with this month's 2nd Saturday event, I'll be giving a 10-minute artist talk about one of my sculptures on the hour. These talks will also be broadcast on Instagram Live.

12:00 pm — Shy Bending Back
1:00 pm — Andromeda I
2:00 pm — Rise Up
3:00 pm — Pandora
4:00 pm — Daedalus
5:00 pm — Andromeda II

Pandora, Bronze, 2017

A Generous Kingdom III features art that explores symbolism, story, and beyond. All mediums and modes of expression are embraced from low brow, pop surrealism, abstraction, and more. This show emphasizes the idea of revealing and/or honoring a narrative or legacy. The term Kingdom may be interpreted in many ways, not necessarily meant to be a literal elucidation. Does the work seem to create a realm or a remembrance or representation of the idea of home or place? Does the process tell the story? Is a legacy or mythos revealed?

The show opens December 1, 2018 and runs through mid-January 2019. Gallery is open Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday, 11 AM to 4 PM or by appointment. Call, text, or email Jennifer to schedule an appointment: fineartvu@gmail.com or 347-752-8915.

Prometheus, Bronze, 2018

A juried exhibition of the American Artists Professional League (AAPL) at the Salamagundi Club. In its ongoing effort to promote and encourage artists specializing in realistic art forms, the AAPL has staged a Grand National Exhibition for 90 years. Each year, hundreds of applicants from all 50 states in all media submit their work for review by a selection committee consisting of professional artists in the fields of oil, watermedia, pastel and graphics and sculpture. This year’s Juror of Awards is Stephanie L. Herdrich, Ph.D. Assistant Curator of American Painting and Sculpture, The American Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.

The exhibition opens November 11, 2018 and runs through November 18, 2018. Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 1 PM to 6 PM, and Saturday and Sunday 1 PM to 5PM.

Come visit the studio to see works in progress and new bronze sculptures.

Open and free to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Faces Tell Stories is an annual portrait project focusing on the faces of those who have served. It is an opportunity to look deep into the eyes of an individual and see the story that is there. From nominations, a single veteran is selected every January to sit for a life-size portrait bust. My goal is to build a collection of faces and stories honoring the diversity and experiences of the veterans of today. 

2018 Nominee Staff Sgt. Ronald Harrison Le'ger
Nominated by Rylan Brenner—a former colleague of mine from BCC, Ronnie has the kind of face that grabs your attention. He's both an artist and a musician, who served over 24 years in the army with multiple deployments. He's a man of many stories and a diversity of experience. My first conversation with him was an interesting mix of art, Led Zeppelin, and explosions. A copy of this bust will be presented to Ronnie at this event. 

2019 Nominations are Now Open
Nominations will be accepted through December 31. For a veteran to be eligible, he or she must be able to sit with me for a minimum of three separate, 3 hour sessions at Studio 303 at Hatch Street Studios in New Bedford, MA. These sessions will be arranged to be convenient for the veteran. 

Submissions must include:
• 1 picture from when he/she served
• 1 picture of him/her as the veteran looks today 
• Nominated veteran’s name, rank and short description of service (1-2 sentences)
• Contact information of both the veteran nominated and nominating individual (phone and email)

Email nominations to erik@erikdurant.com by 12 midnight December 31, with the subject line “Veterans Project Nomination.”

The selected veteran will be announced on January 15.

As a member of the greater New Bedford, MA artist community, my studio is located at Hatch Street Studios. The studios are housed in the historic Hatch Street Mill building in the North end of town. 2nd Saturdays is an opportunity to share with the public my studio practice, demonstrate my techniques, and hold events each month. 

As a member of the greater New Bedford, MA artist community, my studio is located at Hatch Street Studios. The studios are housed in the historic Hatch Street Mill building in the North end of town. 2nd Saturdays is an opportunity to share with the public my studio practice, demonstrate my techniques, and hold events each month. 

This two day workshop takes place Saturday, July 28th, 9:00am - 5:00pm and Sunday, July 29th, 9:00am - 4:00pm and is being held at North River Arts Society in Marshfield Hills, MA.

Perfect for painters, illustrators, sculptors or anyone interested in furthering his or her own artistic understanding of the figure. Receive an intro. to the specific techniques that I used to hone my understanding of the figure. No previous sculpture experience required. We will cover armiture construction for small figures, clay modeling, basic proportions, as well as concepts related to gesture sketching, such as movement and balance.

For more information or to sign up click here

This two day workshop takes place Saturday, July 28th, 9:00am - 5:00pm and Sunday, July 29th, 9:00am - 4:00pm and is being held at North River Arts Society in Marshfield Hills, MA.

Perfect for painters, illustrators, sculptors or anyone interested in furthering his or her own artistic understanding of the figure. Receive an intro. to the specific techniques that I used to hone my understanding of the figure. No previous sculpture experience required. We will cover armiture construction for small figures, clay modeling, basic proportions, as well as concepts related to gesture sketching, such as movement and balance.

For more information or to sign up click here

Ariadne, Bronze, 2017

In its 18th year, Metro Montage is the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art's annual juried exhibition featuring all types of genre, medium, style, subject matter, concept, and technique. Metro Montage features works of fine art by contemporary artists that showcase the diversity within our nation's culture. Juror Madeline Beck.

The exhibition opens July 7, 2018 and runs through September 9, 2018.

Visit mariettacobbartmuseum.org for more informations on hours and admission.

Prometheus, Bronze, 2018

A juried exhibition of the Hudson Valley Art Association, hosted at the Lyme Art Association. In the spirit of the Hudson River School of art tradition, the HVAA Annual Exhibition jurors are looking for submissions which are original representational images that display aesthetic appeal and technical skill. Jurors include: Bruno Lucchesi (sculpture), Don Demers (Oil), Tim Saternow (Watercolor), Edgar Jerins (Drawing/Graphics/Pastel).

The exhibition opens June 15, 2018 and runs through August 3, 2018. Gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 AM to 5 PM.

As a member of the greater New Bedford, MA artist community, my studio is located at Hatch Street Studios. The studios are housed in the historic Hatch Street Mill building in the North end of town. 2nd Saturdays is an opportunity to share with the public my studio practice, demonstrate my techniques, and hold events each month. 

No nudity here—but what’s the difference between nude and naked? Have you ever wondered how a figure model gets into modeling? Or what is it like to model for a sculptor? Do they only model, or do they have another job?

Join us for a live AMA (Ask Me Anything) session in Studio 303 with Erik and a few of the models that pose for him. Part of this event will also be broadcast via Instagram Live.

Refreshments will be served.