NOVEMBER 15 - DECEMBER 20, 2025
Galleri Urbane is pleased to announce Daylight, a solo exhibition of the latest works by Indiana based artist Rachel Hellmann. This represents the artist’s fifth solo exhibition at the gallery.
Meet the artist November 15th from 5:00 - 7:00pm
“My paintings look to the daylight of domestic space as it is admitted through windows and doors, filtered through curtains, contained within walls, floors, ceilings, and revealed by the surfaces that reflect it, the colors and textures of architectural materials as well of the rugs, furnishings, and quilts that adorn them. The Daylight paintings, like rooms within a house, hold daylight and invite wonder.”
Light becomes the medium through which these experiences are activated, transforming domestic spaces into sites of reflection and daydream. The Daylight paintings capture the sense of sunlight as it enters a home, filtered through windows, doors, and curtains, interacting with walls, floors, ceilings, and reflective surfaces.
They reflect, refract, and resonate against eachother in the interplay of shaped line and color. The paintings draw on the colors, patterns, and surfaces of architectural materials, furnishings, rugs, and textiles, creating luminous environments that invite contemplation. The acrylic paintings on paper, allow for a focused exploration of layered transparency, texture, and the interplay of color and light.
Luster – 46 x 48 x 2.5
Watch:
Rachel checks in from her Indianapolis studio to answer some questions about Daylight
Layered transparency and a “woven” quality, influenced by Hellmann’s recent collage work with fabric and paper, create a sense of depth and ephemerality, echoing the work of Mary Corse, Bridget Riley, and Robert Irwin. Repeated bands of transparent color suggest edges of doors, intersecting walls, and sunlight streaming through windows.
Rachel Hellmann is a multi-disciplinary artist who is known for her ongoing series of meticulously- crafted geometric sculptures and paintings. Working both three-dimensionally and on paper, the resulting forms explore the way in which the viewer’s perception is disoriented by the distorted sense of gravity caused by the careful interplay of geometry, light, and color.
Rachel Hellmann lives and works in Indianapolis, Indiana. She holds an MFA from Boston University and a B.F.A. from the University of Dayton. Hellmann’s work has been exhibited widely both nationally and internationally at a variety of venues including the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, the Zillman Art Museum, Bangor, ME, the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Ill and the Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY. In additional to exhibiting at commercial galleries throughout the US, Hellmann has also exhibited internationally at Saenger Galeria (Mexico City), iGallery (Palma, Spain), Feria Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and Kirk Gallery (Aalborg, Denmark).
Hellmann is the recipient of the Blanche E. Colman Award for Painting. She was also awarded residencies at the Ragdale Foundation, Playa, the Corning Museum of Glass and Fundación Miro Mallorca (Palma, Spain). In 2015, she was the Edward E. Elson Artist- in-Residence at the Addison Gallery of American Art and she was recently awarded a residency at the Kimmel Nelson Harding Fine Art Center in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Hellmann’s work is included in numerous public and private collections including the the Zillman Art Museum, Fidelity Corporation, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Morgan Stanley, Boston Federal Reserve Bank, Commerce Bank, Burke Rehabilitation Center, Cummins Inc, Eskenazi Health, Cleary Gottlieb, McDermott Will & Emery, William P Clements University Hospital (University of Texas) and the US Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Hellmann was Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at Northern Essex Community College from 2008 until May of 2013 when she relocated to Indiana to work full-time as an artist. Before joining faculty at NECC, she taught at Mount Ida College, School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Bunker Hill Community College. She has been a visiting artist at many colleges including: MassArt, Dartmouth College, Whittier College, Purdue University, Ann Arundel Community College, Ball State University and Rhode Island School of Design.