Casey Herrick

About Casey

(updated 2/2019) Casey Herrick is a China-based artist, working in Beijing as a 2018-2019 Luce Scholar and studying at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. A 2016 graduate of Wesleyan University with a double major in Studio Art and Psychology, Casey was deeply involved with Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts, serving as a photography lab assistant and a wood-shop monitor, in addition to working as a teaching assistant for several studio art classes. In 2015, he received the University’s Zawisa Grant to photograph the American South, with a focus on regional identity in Louisiana and East Texas. He has studied in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Guanajuato, Mexico, and has served on the student council of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Casey’s art explores societal norms with an emphasis on geographic and cultural themes. While much of his work takes the form of figurative painting, Casey employs a wide range of artistic mediums. His thesis, Safe Conduct, focused on expectations and traditions associated with gender and the role of society in boys’ coming of age. Featuring a ten-by-six foot canvas, in addition to five other paintings, his thesis work earned him Highest Honors. Casey was also awarded the Studio Art Program Award for departmental achievement. Upon his graduation, New York’s Leslie-Lohman Museum purchased one of his thesis paintings, The Herndon Climb, adding it to their permanent collection. Now, at China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts, Casey works alongside masters students, developing a body of work for a summer 2019 exhibition. Outside of the Academy and his individual practice, he is engaged with other Beijing creatives, leading events in an effort to develop and integrate the city’s art scene.