Hugh Hayden Artist Talk
Thursday, August 25, 2022
6:30pm–8:00pm
Location
Dudley Recital Hall
(Across the Fine Arts Courtyard from Blaffer Art Museum)
FREE and open to the public
Blaffer Art Museum will be open late from 5:30-6:30pm before the Artist Talk.
Join us at Blaffer Art Museum for an artist talk by exhibiting artist Hugh Hayden. Currently on view, the exhibition Boogey Men runs through September 4.
Parking: Free parking for this event is available via the six complimentary marked lot spots directly in front of the museum entrance and at the Elgin Street Garage parking (4224 Elgin Street). To take advantage of complimentary Elgin Street Garage parking, please first part in the garage, obtain your machine ticket, and bring to the museum front desk upon arrival.
About the Artist: Hugh Hayden’s practice considers the anthropomorphizing of the natural world as a visceral lens for exploring the human condition. Hayden transforms familiar objects through a process of selection, carving and juxtaposition to challenge our perceptions of ourselves, others and the environment. Raised in Texas and trained as an architect, his work arises from a deep connection to nature and its organic materials. Hayden utilizes wood as his primary medium, frequently loaded with multi-layered histories in their origin, including objects as varied as discarded trunks, rare indigenous timbers, Christmas trees or souvenir African sculptures. From these he saws, sculpts and sands the wood, often combining disparate species, creating new composite forms that also reflect their complex cultural backgrounds. Crafting metaphors for human existence and past experience, Hayden’s work questions the stasis of social dynamics and asks the viewers to examine their place within an ever-shifting ecosystem.
Hugh Hayden was born in Dallas, Texas in 1983 and lives and works in New York City. He holds an M.F.A. from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University. He has had solo exhibitions at The Princeton University Art Museum in New Jersey in 2020 and at White Columns in New York in 2018. His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions including Sculpture Center, New York, NY, (2021); Hayward Gallery, London, (2020); The Shed, New York, NY, (2019); Pilot Projects, Philadelphia, PA, (2018); Sundance Film Festival, Park City, UT, (2015); MoMA PS1, Rockaway Beach, New York, NY, (2014); Socrates Sculpture Park, New York, NY (2014); and Abrons Art Center, New York, NY, (2013), among others. He is the recipient of residencies at Glenfiddich in Dufftown, Scotland (2014); Abrons Art Center and Socrates Sculpture Park (both 2012), and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (2011).
Learn more: blafferartmuseum.org/hugh-hayden
Image: Hugh Hayden, courtesy of the New York Times.