GLASSBORO, NJ.- Rowan University Art Gallery is presenting Mending A Reflection, a solo exhibition of Julie Heffernan’s self-portraits, curated by Mary Salvante, Director of Rowan University Art Gallery.

The exhibit will be on view September 3 to October 26, 2019, with an artist talk and opening reception on September 12, from 5 – 7:30 pm.

Mending a Reflection addresses the connection between culture, mass media and personal identity through the eyes of one central female figure. Through her self-portraiture, Heffernan investigates what she calls the “shared collective unconscious,” exploring the historical narratives and subliminal imagery that work to shape who we are and how we perceive the world around us.

In 2019, Heffernan revised many of her self-portraits, including Self-Portrait with Daughters, Self-Portrait After Galilee, Self-Portrait with Shipwreck, Self-Portrait as Wrangler, Self-Portrait as Two-Headed Princess, and Self Portrait as Hothead. These newly updated paintings will be exhibited for the first time publicly in Mending a Reflection.

Heffernan’s paintings help us understand how media can influence our behavior and manipulate our perspective. In her large-scale vibrant works, she pays homage to many powerful women by including them in her portraits. Taking inspiration from women activists like Anita Hill and Tarana Burke, Heffernan confronts this bias by presenting what she calls a “different sort of self-portrait,” one full of female spirit, “giving voices to women who have been silenced for too many years by the dominant culture.”

Julie Heffernan has been exhibiting her paintings nationally and internationally since 1988 and is represented by Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco. She has had numerous solo exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe, including at PPOW in NYC entitled Hunter Gatherer (2019); the Crocker Art Museum, Palmer Art Museum and Michael Haas Gallery in Berlin; and a museum show entitled When The Water Rises originating at the LSU Museum of Art in Baton Rouge and traveling to museums in California, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Texas through 2019. She has participated in numerous group shows at major galleries and museums including the Museum für Moderne Kunst, in Bremen, Germany; Me Museum, Olbricht Collection in Berlin; the Palazzo Reale in Milan, Italy; and in Environmental Impact exhibition traveling to 12 museums throughout the United States.

Heffernan is the recipient of such prestigious grants as the NEA, NYFA and Fulbright, as well as a PS1 Artist-in-Residence, and her work has been reviewed by major newspapers and magazines including The New York Times and The New Yorker. Her work is in numerous museums throughout the country including the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York and the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond, VA. She is a Professor of Fine Arts at Montclair State University in New Jersey.