BIOGRAPHY
Hilary Tolan is a Boston area artist. She was born in Port Jefferson, New York. She completed her Master’s in Art Education in the Artist/Teacher program at Massachusetts College of Art in and she received her BFA from Purchase College, New York. Tolan’s work has been reviewed by the Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, Art New England and Artscope magazine. Tolan has been a resident at the Brydcliff Artist colony at the Woodstock Guild in New York and was an artist in residence at the Hambidge Center, GA. Hilary creates her work using a range of materials including drawing, photography, sculpture, and installation. Since 2021, she has been the curator for Gallery 93, a community gallery at the Brookline Senior Center. She has gallery affiliations with the Kingston Gallery in Boston and DRIVE-BY/bk projects gallery in Watertown.
EXHIBITIONS
Waterland Solo Exhibition, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2025
In This Place Solo Exhibition, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2023
Emerge Solo exhibit, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2019
Relay Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2017
Floating World Solo exhibit, Mayyim Hayyim Gallery, Newton 2017
Is This Something? Wedeman Gallery, Lasell College, MA 2017
I Know Just What You Are Saying, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2016
How to Feel Real, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2015
Greenhouse, One Mile Gallery, Kingston, NY 2015
Shadowland Solo exhibit, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2015
Boston/Como Como, Italy 2013
Gifted Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2013
Floating World Solo exhibition, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2012
Still Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2011
In Bloom Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY 2011
Scenery Drive-By Gallery, Watertown, MA 2011
Dialogues Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2011
Mad Dash Laconia Gallery, Boston, MA 2011
The Artist as Collector Laconia Gallery, Boston, MA 2010
Night Garden Solo exhibit, Sarah Doyle gallery, Brown University, Providence, RI 2009
Human Nature Stonehill College, Easton, MA 2009
Take Out Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2009
Remainder Solo exhibit, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2008
Hi Ho Silver Kingston gallery, Boston, MA 2007
Kingston Sampler Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2006
Malden Contemporary Malden, MA 2006
Art House 85 Rockview Street, Jamaica Plain 2006
Beloved Solo exhibit, Kingston Gallery, MA 2006
Inviting Kingston Gallery, Boston 2005
ES Presents! Chelsea, MA 2005
Site Lines Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2005
Garden Solo exhibit, Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA 2004
Annual AIDS Benefit Exhibit Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA 2003-2011
SELECTED PRESS:
“Sometimes Tolan caught molten pools of sunlight burning in dark depths of leaf and branch; at other times, in even darker spaces, the scene was partially illuminated with a brilliant flash.” James Foritano, Artscope, January 2019
“Tolan alters her prints by hand to parody the effects of over and underexposure, … looking closely we see the interiors of several “leaves” have been sleekly excised leaving a white ghost.” Elizabeth Michelman, Artscope, January 2017
“Tolan goes beyond the frame. Hilary Tolan paints over and elaborates on shadows in her landscape photographs in “Shadowland” at Kingston Gallery. Tending to the shadows, she loads them with unknown meaning. They seep and crawl. Dark surprises lurk.” Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe 2015
“Nature can influence our lives, instill memories in our minds and fill us with feelings of want and nostalgia. When we pair these powers of nature with those of humanity, the product is both haunting and delicate. Boston area artist Hilary Tolan has made it her mission to expose this relationship for all that it's worth.” Artscope online, Lacey Daley, February 2012
‘Waxing philosophical with wax coated flora", Suzannah Weiss, The Brown Daily Herald, November 2009
Critics Picks, Hilary Tolan: Remainder, Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, May 2008
Spotlight review, Hilary Tolan: Beloved, Shawn Hill, Art New England August/September 2006
"Anyone who's had their heart broken knows what it feels like to cling to something you're not even sure was real in the first place. Hilary Tolan's witty and disarming exhibition at the Kingston Gallery plops viewers right into that realm of bloated sentiment and desperate preservation..." Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, March 2006
"A galaxy far, far away", Greg Cook, Boston Phoenix, March 2006
"Fresh air, the great outdoors, this is reality, right? Not in Hilary Tolan: Beloved..." Randi Hopkins, Boston Phoenix, March 2006
"Home is Where the Art is" Installation art, D'lynne Plummer, Art New England, April/May 2006