Homer Yost' shows The Solitary Figure' at Gaslight Gallery

Lauren LaRocca, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

Aug. 1—A beloved artist in the Frederick community, Homer Yost has drawn and sculpted for more than four decades. His work is a love affair with the human form, the classical subject of artists for centuries. Narratives about his personal world and the larger world are conveyed in the subtle gestures or posture of his subject.

His solo exhibition "The Solitary Figure" will be featured at Gaslight Gallery in downtown Frederick from Aug. 5 to Oct. 1.

An opening reception will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 5, and Yost will give a talk at 2 p.m. Aug. 6. Another reception will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 2, and visitors will have the opportunity to meet Yost at 2 p.m. Sept. 3.

Yost describes his work as "figurative humanism" and captures more than a representational likeness; he captures the essence of their spirit in drawings and sculpture.

"This exhibition is a retrospective of my drawings and sculptures," Yost states. "Many of the drawings have never been exhibited on gallery walls. All my work in this exhibition is of solitary female figures. For more than four decades I have worked with women, exploring the forms of their bodies, their psychology and their character. To some of my work, I have attached mythological or Biblical themes, usually leaning toward the tragic. For instance, I did a series of sculptures of Iphigenia, the daughter of the Greek King Agamemnon. She was sacrificed by her father, so that he could be victorious against the Trojans. I can say that I have never been bored or complacent with the female figure as the core of my artistic inspiration."

Yost received his undergraduate degree in humanities at Upsala College in East Orange, N.J., in 1977. He then studied figure drawing and sculpture with Sigmund Abeles at the University of New Hampshire Durham in the late 1970s. In the 1980s, he studied with the New York sculptor Peter Agostini at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he completed his MFA in 1984. Yost was an artist-in-residence in Cortona, Italy, with the University of Georgia at Athens in 1986. He has completed many private commissions, as well as commissions for churches. He has exhibited his work at galleries and colleges in many states around the U.S., as well as in England and Italy.

Learn more about the artist at homeryost.com.

Gaslight Gallery is at 118 E. Church St., Frederick. See gaslightart.com for additional information.