Jack Hornady

Phone: (202) 255 7620

As a painter, my work is rooted in the beauty of Mid-Century design. I'm interested in the forms, shapes and compositions. What really captivates me is how light transforms these objects: the gleam across chrome, the sweep of color on a department store's facade, the way shadows create a rhythm of positive and negative space. I’m drawn to the bold colors and clean lines that defined the design of the 1950s and ’60s.

Much of my inspiration comes from vintage 35mm slides, old motel postcards, and memories from my childhood. These images stay with me because they distill a moment when beauty and utility coexisted in harmony.

Many of these icons are vanishing, replaced or forgotten. Through painting, I hold on to the sense of place they once offered and reimagine how they live on—sometimes drawn from memory, sometimes from imagination, always through light. Each painting is an invitation to slow down, to notice how design once worked in concert with its surroundings, and to consider the quiet elegance that still lingers in the geometry and color of the past."