Max Hertz
b. 1996
Venice, California 90291
Artist Statement
My work is rooted in the shared memory of learning through play. I explore how early experiences with toys, puzzles, and play structures shape our first understandings of space, object, and body. Using a language of assembly and abstraction, I tap into the logics of construction and function—not to reproduce utility, but to reanimate the curiosity it once sparked. While childhood play is often seen as a phase, I treat it as a lifelong framework: one that informs how we perceive, build, and interact with the world. Through this lens, my sculptures and design objects aim to return to and prolong that formative state of embodied learning.
Education
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
BFA, Sculpture, 2015–2019
Exhibitions
2025 – Woods-Gerry West Coast Edition – group, Emeco House, Venice, CA
2025 – Big Box Store – group, Works Cited, Los Angeles, CA
2025 – Puentes – group, Artbug Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2025 – Max Hertz & Stacy Fong – two person, The Feel, Los Angeles, CA
2025 – Mutual Aid Auction – group, benefit, Los Angeles Design Weekend & Object Permanence (Online)
2024 – The Auction – group, Raw Senses, Zurich, Switzerland
2024 – 28 Lights – group, Works Cited, Los Angeles, CA
2023 – Vessel Variety Show – group, The Feel, Los Angeles, CA
2023 – Incognito 2023 – group, benefit, Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles, CA
2022 – Better Structures – solo, Spy Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2022 – Fitting Forms – solo, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2022 – American Architecture – group, Spy Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2022 – A Kaleidoscope of Great Works by Alumni Artists – group, Chuck Arnoldi Studio, Los Angeles, CA
2021 – Disassembly Line – group, Molly Barnes & Spy Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2021 – Glance Back, Forge Forward – group, Sam Francis Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2021 – Hello World – group, Spy Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2019 – New Contemporaries – group, RISD Museum, Providence, RI
2019 – Senior Invitational Exhibition – group, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
2019 – Welcome to My Show – group, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
2019 – ___scapes – group, RISD Museum, Providence, RI
2018 – Center-Mid – two person, Infinity on West Adams, Los Angeles, CA
2018 – RISD Sculpture Triennial – group, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
2017 – Max Hertz at WNDO – solo, Jim Budman Studio, Los Angeles, CA
2017 – Poles and Holes – group, Exposé Gallery, Providence, RI