Frank Heath

USA, b. 1982, St. Joseph, MO, lives and works in New York City, NY

Frank Heath: Pony Express

Aug 27 - Dec 10

Hoffman Gallery at Lewis & Clark College

615 SW Palatine Hill Rd, Portland, OR 97219

Daily from 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

About the Project

Frank Heath (New York) is known for detective-like videos that employ deadpan humor and elaborate conceptual pranks to challenge the viewer’s perception of truth and institutional authority. For the 2026 C45 Triennial, Heath debuts Pony Express at Lewis & Clark’s Hoffman Gallery. The film documents the National Pony Express Association’s annual “Re-Ride,” an elaborate reenactment of the short-lived mail service that carried letters by horseback relay from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from 1860 to 1861, primarily following the Oregon Trail. Through this obsessive act of reconstruction, Heath examines how myth, logistics, nostalgia, and national identity converge in the performance of American history.

Artist Bio

Based in Brooklyn, Heath’s broader video works contemplate vast, unfathomable subjects through a distinct lens of observational documentary, landscape portraiture, droll humor, and prank phone calls. He has presented solo exhibitions at Simone Subal Gallery (New York), the Swiss Institute (New York), and Art Basel Statements (Basel). His works have been included in group exhibitions and screenings at world-class venues, including the Centre Pompidou (Paris), The Kitchen (New York), the International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Power Plant (Toronto), and The High Line (New York).

An acclaimed filmmaker, his work The Hollow Coin received Best Documentary Short at IndieLisboa and the Deframed Audience Award at Kurzfilm Hamburg, while Protect Your Home was awarded Best Experimental Film at the Message to Man International Film Festival. Most recently, a retrospective of his films, Wrong Number, was presented at the Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn.