Don Hershman’s I AM A BARN Explores the Architecture of Human Resilience

Inside Artifact Projects, one of New York’s emerging contemporary art spaces, a collection of barns stands in quiet defiance. They are not pastoral scenes or nostalgic nods to Americana, but portraits of perseverance—the kind of endurance that comes with being weathered, worn, and still standing.

This is I AM A BARN, the latest solo exhibition by Don Hershman, the California-based painter and surgeon whose dual vocations—medicine and art—intersect in profound ways. On view through October 26, the show marks Hershman’s first major New York solo exhibition since 2023, following a dynamic year of exhibitions across California, including San Francisco, Pleasanton, and Sonoma County.

Crafted on large-scale wood panels with a mixture of acrylic, ink, and pencil, Hershman’s barns are more than architectural studies. Each work acts as a meditation on aging, identity, and resilience—a mirror of the human condition rendered in timber and texture.

Hershman’s creative practice is as meticulous as it is emotional, informed by decades of experience as a podiatric surgeon. The same precision required in surgery—an acute understanding of structure, balance, and form—translates into his brushwork. Layers of paint reveal a dialogue between control and decay, between the precision of anatomy and the imperfection of nature.

Each barn in the series stands as both subject and symbol. Cracks and seams become metaphors for endurance; bowed frames and fading hues recall the body’s passage through time. These are not static images—they are psychological spaces, inviting viewers to confront fragility and fortitude in equal measure.

The exhibition follows Hershman’s continued exploration of identity and resilience, seen in earlier works such as Donald and Victor: Under the Influence (2021) and Code Switching (2023), both exhibited at Salomon Arts Gallery in New York. His I AM A BARN series, previously featured at Radian Gallery in San Francisco and on the cover of San Francisco Arts Monthly (2024), expands that narrative through the language of architecture.

Born in New York and now based in San Francisco, Hershman’s journey to becoming an artist was unconventional. As a child, he was captivated by visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, sketching obsessively and experimenting with color long before pursuing a career in medicine.

After earning his BA in pre-med and psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and completing podiatric training at the California College of Podiatric Medicine, Hershman established a successful medical practice in San Francisco in the 1980s. Yet art remained an essential outlet—a parallel language that allowed him to express what surgery could not.

His artistic breakthrough came unexpectedly in 1992, when a curator attending a party at his home invited him to exhibit his paintings at Spectrum Gallery. Every piece sold, validating his instinct to pursue art with the same intensity he brought to medicine.

Today, Hershman’s work is collected both nationally and internationally, with selections in The de Young Open (2020, 2023) and exhibitions in renowned galleries across the United States. In 2025 alone, his work appeared at 45 Fremont, One Front Street, Sea Ranch Lodge, Firehouse Arts Center, and MAG Galleries, with another solo exhibition planned for Wessling Contemporary in San Francisco this November.

The opening reception for I AM A BARN drew an eclectic crowd of art enthusiasts, collectors, and longtime supporters. Notable guests included Noreen Donovan, Ryan Roth, Brendan Roth, Stacy Schneider, Dr. Robi Ludwig, Kelly Hershman, Ben Bellow, Stella Bellow, Heather Bellow, Cory Cain Barton, and Gigi Salomon. The evening underscored the resonance of Hershman’s work—not only as fine art but as an emotional and philosophical statement.

At its core, I AM A BARN transcends landscape painting. It is an exploration of survival, fragility, and beauty found in imperfection—a reflection of the artist himself, balancing science and sentiment, precision and empathy.

Through his barns, Hershman asks viewers to see themselves not as bystanders to time, but as participants in its transformation. The cracks are not flaws—they are proof of endurance.

Exhibition Details

I AM A BARN by Don Hershman is on view at Artifact Projects, New York City, through October 26, 2025, open Wednesday through Saturday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.