Financial District, NYC, for immediate release:

“Come Inside,” the forthcoming solo show of works by Max E. Barnes Herrlander, displays a creative process the artist developed during the 2020 lockdown, when he gained access to an abandoned studio in Chinatown for a few months.

In a bit of a pickle, and eager for a metamorphosis in confinement, the artist began to grow out his hair. Meanwhile, his beloved dog Bill, died tragically around the time he found himself on the brink of being fired from his office-job-turned-work-from-home gig. Further compounding a sticky situation, unprotected intercourse with his wife was failing to result in the conception of a child—their intended replacement for Bill. This failure to conceive prompted medical tests on both sets, resulting in a costly scrotum surgery at NYU hospital.

While constricted in a state of pain and desperation, immersed in a confluence of unfortunate events, Barnes Herrlander sequestered himself indoors and built dolls that quickly became his best friends. However, realizing he was never going to be able to recover financially by selling dolls as sculptures, the artist quickly expanded into painting and video to hedge his bets. The results of this interlude are a case study in aesthetic transcendence, evocative of Edvard Munch’s The Frieze of Life series.

Barnes Herrlanders solo show is presented by Hopla and drömfångarfilm, October 22nd, 2023 77 Fulton Street, New York,