Cannon Hersey

Cannon Hersey is a photographer, fine artist, filmmaker and organizer of large-scale cultural efforts in non-traditional spaces in New York City, Sao Paulo, Miami, Tokyo, Houston, Hiroshima and Johannesburg. He is committed to connecting art and the public in unique and unexpected ways to explore the meaning of race, religion, culture and commerce in the modern global world.
Built on the 35-mm photographic image, Hersey creates artworks utilizing silk-screen, photo-etching, mixed-media, light-box, and installation. Hersey has exhibited at numerous institutions and galleries including Lincoln Center’s Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery, the opening event of the 2008 Sao Paulo Bienale at the private collection of Kim Esteve, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporic Arts (MoCADA), the New York Open Center, the Johannesburg Art Foundation, and the presidential award ceremony for Nelson Mandela at NYU. Cannon was an artist in residence and exhibited extensively at the Andrew Freedman Home from 2016 – 2019.

Hersey’s works are included in the private collections of the Durst family, Gerard Malanga, Marilyn Oshman, Mongane Wally Serote, Chair of South Africa’s parliamentary Committee for Arts and Culture, Linda Shearer, and Stanley Stern. His work has been mentioned in many publications including the Wall Street Journal, Vogue RG, Chugoku Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun The Daily News, Time Out, Brazil’s O Estado de Sao Paulo, South Africa’s Sunday Times, Chronogram, Bomb, and Trace Magazine. Over the past three years 8 television programs have been made by NHK (Japanese Public Television) about Cannon’s work addressing the social issues of our time through art and education and his work has reached over 730 million impressions around the world.

Hersey believes that as an artist, he has a role beyond the studio, working as an educator and organizer to build a way for art to address social issues. Hersey founded CrossPathCulture (CPC) in 1999 and 1Future in 2015, non-profit organizations dedicated to global community building through the arts, global diversity in museums and media, and art as a language of social transformation. As the executive director of CPC and 1Future, he organized and produced more than 50 exhibitions, festivals and educational programs in conjunction with other partners, including the Museum of Modern Art, PS1, African Film Festival/New York, the Johannesburg Metropolitan City Council, the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the Brazilian Ministry of Culture, Colgate-Palmolive, Sony, HSBC and the Market Theater, South Africa.

Hersey lives and works in NYC and Millbrook, NY with his wife and three daughters.