Julie Heffernan is known for her lush and sensuous large-scale figurative (and still life) paintings that at first glance seem to have stepped out of either the Italian or Spanish Renaissance or 17th century Dutch genre still-life or grand manner landscape painting. However, Heffernan’s concerns are clearly of the late 20th Century as her symbolism references a combination of psychological issues surrounding feminism, gender issues, class structure and motherhood.

"The attractiveness of the figures inn my work reflects the attraction I have to the complex worlds underlying them, understanding that accepted norms of beauty can lead viewers to an acceptance of more complicated imagery below the surface, as the great heaps abound, swirl and find their balance." - Julie Heffernan Akin to Magical Realism, Julie Heffernan's lush self-portraiture utilizes a myriad of art historical references to present a sensual interior narrative, a self-allegory whose half- hidden political agenda is the literal background of the paintings. The dark, Grimm fairy tale-like undercurrent transforms her aristocratic, operatic portraits into a contemporary vanitas or memento mori, acting as both a stylized fantasy and a Bosch-like warning. Heffernan (b. 1956, Illinois) received her MFA from Yale School of Art (CT), and has been exhibiting widely for the past two decades. Selected exhibitions include those at The Korean Biennial (Korea), Weatherspoon Art Gallery (NC), Tampa Museum Of Art (FL), Knoxville Museum Of Art (TN), Columbia Museum Of Art (SC), Milwaukee Art Museum (WI), The New Museum (NY), The Norton Museum (FL), The American Academy Of Arts And Letters (NY), Kohler Arts Center (WI), The Palmer Museum Of Art (PA), National Academy Of Art (NY), Mcnay Art Museum (TX), Herter Art Gallery (MA), Mint Museum (NC) and Virginia Museum of Fine Art (VA), Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OK) among numerous others. Her work has also been acquired by many of the institutions listed above. The artist is also a Professor of Fine Arts at Montclair State University.