Todd Hebert

November 7, 2011

Harvest Moon: Pointer
, 2008

Monotype

Gift: Pilliod Records, 2009

A native of North Dakota, Todd Hebert creates art that is uniquely contemplative.

Heavily rooted in recognizable imagery– most often snowmen, fireworks, bubbles, a full moon– Hebert’s paintings accomplish a rare, quiet answer to Pop Art. Suspended baseballs or snowmen floating over the blurred lights of Metropolis, USA are an example of the artist’s varied work with repetitive motifs.

Born in Valley City in 1972, and raised in Dickinson, North Dakota, young Hebert was exposed to the art world by teachers such as Michael Dunn and Lili Stewart, both North Dakotan wildlife painters. After high school, Hebert earned his BFA at the University of North Dakota; he continued on to graduate school at the Rhode Island School of Design, followed by fellowships at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA and the Core Residency Program at the Glassell School of Art.

It was during this time that Hebert came into his unique style, which is heavily rooted in recognizable, middle-American motifs, painted with either laser-sharp precision or as a blurred background to bubbles, spider webs or an assortment of other objects. Sometimes, signs for never-built places (reminiscent of the ‘Hollywoodland’ sign) hang stoically on the tops of hills, their silhouettes battling the exuberance of fireworks or a sleepless city. In either case, the result is a haunting commentary on Americana, accomplished as a unique take on pop art.

Hebert now works as an Associate Professor of painting and drawing at the University of North Dakota.