Hugh Hayden
INSIDERS / MEDIATORS
© Hugh Hayden
Depending on your point of entry, Hugh Hayden’s distortion of quotidian household items might hit differently. Do they feel bizarre? Like fun? Failure? There are no wrong answers. Relative concepts like success, achievement, assimilation, and struggle are all at play in his sometimes massive, other times tender artworks and installations. Hayden makes critical objects. Taken- for-granted everyday things like cribs, dining tables, and hairbrushes contra- dict themselves with strange but famil- iar interventions, obtrusive appendages, or oppositional materials for the implied function. From their standpoint, they are perceptive criticisms, observant but nuanced reflections of the disillusion- ment of our country’s self-proclaimed promise for an abundant and secure future for all. Hayden’s work embodies a different reality, one that knows this is true for only some. The relational quality of his work has been a constant in his practice.
With a love for cooking, Hayden’s past culinary installations have undoubtedly influenced the surreal mise-en-scènes he now creates, filled with subverted objects, animated kitchenware, and challenging furnishings that require cooperation and consideration. In a way, they are solution-oriented; by turning what might go invisible to some into something glaring, Hayden’s prac- tice emphasizes his desire to generate structural change for others like him in the real world. In 2021, he formed the Solomon B. Hayden Fellowship to provide financial support and art world mentorship opportunities for deserving students demonstrating leadership in African American and African Diaspora communities.
B. 1983, Dallas, TX
Lives and works in New York City, NY
WW127
Hugh Hayden, Waterboy, 2024, Rattan, plastic cooler, basketball rim. Courtesy of the artist, photography by R & Company.