BETWEEN US

TWO-PERSON SHOW: HEATHER DRAYZEN & JOSHUA DRAYZEN
AUGUST 16-SEPTEMBER 14, 2024

OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 6-8PM

CLOSING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 7-9PM

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN ART & LIFE PARTNERS

WITH TWO ROMANTIC & MUSICAL PARTNERSHIPS LIVE PERFORMANCES AT THE OPENING & CLOSING RECEPTIONS—WITH DUOS RAEA LEE JENNERICH & SKYLER LEE ON 8.16 AND JORDAN GRUVER & CHASE MILLER ON 9.14

“We fell in love as young art students in New York in 2003. Over the past 21 years, we've grown together, both personally and artistically, creating ourselves and our art. We both make our work at home, intertwined with the rituals of our daily life, painting and drawing with iridescent neon marks flickering between us.

All of Josh’s drawings in this exhibition were created on-site in the hospital and emergency room at Heather’s bedside in 2023. Heather’s paintings, made within the last two years, are a love letter to Josh, to her experiences, and to her immediate world.” —Heather and Josh Drayzen, 2024

The Middle Room is pleased to present Between Us, a duo exhibition of NYC-based married artists Heather and Joshua Drayzen. This intimate exhibit will be on view from August 16 - September 14, 2024, and features 6 small paintings and 6 small drawings, made side by side in their home in Brooklyn, NY—inspired by the ongoing shared domestic experiences and dialogue between art and life partners.

Between Us is a two-person show featuring a series of 6 intimate works for each artist, reflecting their relationship as both creative and married partners. Curated by Shannon Rae Fincke, the work in this show will also be coupled with two sets of romantic musical duets performing live at the Opening and Closing Receptions, bookending the exhibition. This curation concentrates on the deep and quiet connections between Heather Drayzen’s paintings paired with Joshua Drayzen’s drawings—and the way the pair of artists intensely influence and inspire each other’s work, that are not apparent at first glance. The ongoing conversation between this artist duo, working together since they met in art school, is born from love and life partnership—and contextualizes each of their distinctly individual, yet intertwined practices.

Heather Drayzen was raised with a keen awareness of the beauty and fragility of life. In 2019 and again in 2023, she experienced health scares--this, combined with the pandemic in 2020, cultivated an urgency to document her life, memories, and relationships. Her small-scale oil paintings on canvas of domestic scenes, featuring herself and those she cherishes in quiet moments, draw upon the artist’s lived experiences, interior world, and emotions with a tender and intimate touch Experiences in Drayzen’s paintings take place in an atmosphere of iridescent golden light, highlighting the passage of time while nodding to art historical influences including Bonnard, Vuillard, Morisot, and Munch. Jewel-like fields of day-glow color contrast with subtle neutral tones, tapping into a full on sensory experience. Drayzen’s work sits between figuration and abstraction, and renders descriptive elements with varying levels of information to summon a psychological energy. Each painting is a vignette within the larger narrative of her life, and when viewed together they reveal the feeling of a life lived along with a genuine emotional history. Born in 1985 in San Antonio, TX, Drayzen currently resides with her husband Joshua Drayzen in Brooklyn, NY. She obtained her MAT from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI, in 2008, and a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, NY, in 2007. Her debut solo exhibition opened at My Pet Ram in New York City, NY, in May 2024. Drayzen also participated in a two-person exhibition at My Pet Ram in 2023, along with having works included on PLATFORM in the same year. Additionally, she has taken part in group shows at Myriam Chair Galerie in Paris, France, Thierry Goldberg in New York City, NY, and Pentimenti Gallery in Philadelphia, PA, among others. She was an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT. Her paintings have been featured in Art Maze Magazine and Double Volume, and her works on paper were included in Deanna Evans Projects' Trove.

Joshua Drayzen makes drawings inspired by The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, an illuminated manuscript or book of hours. His artwork features a myriad of avatars depicted as humanoid owl men, intertwined with literary influences and mysterious rituals. They also reflect a deeply personal touch, infused with observational sketches created during time spent in the emergency room and hospital, where the artist cared for his wife. Born in Huntington, NY, in 1984, Drayzen completed his BFA at The School of Visual Arts. He lives and works with his wife Heather Drayzen in Brooklyn, NY. Drayzen is currently preparing for his first solo show with Massey Klein Gallery in February 2025. Previously, he has been an artist in residence at Vermont Studio Center, and exhibited at My Pet Ram in New York City, NY and as a member of the collaborative art group Tim Rollins and K.O.S. (Kids of Survival) with Lehmann Maupin in New York City.