Hugh Hayden’s First Monograph Surveys the Inhospitable Nature of the American Dream

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  • Jul 14.

“Hedges” (2019), sculpted wooden, lumber, {hardware}, mirror, and carpet, 144 x 208 x 208 inches. Picture by Mark Waldhauser, courtesy of the Shed Open Name. All photos © Hugh Hayden courtesy of Lisson Gallery, shared with permission

The primary monograph of the incisive Hugh Hayden (beforehand), American Vernacular celebrates a decade of sculptures and installations that proof his eager political and cultural consciousness. Revealed by MIT Press and edited by Sarah Montross, the 256-page quantity is heavy with photos, that includes 90 pictures of Hayden’s work that discover conceptions of race and sophistication by intersections with nature.

Incessantly working with timber and bark—the latter even envelops the guide’s cowl with “HUGH” showing carved into the tough, protecting sheath—Hayden is drawn to wooden and sometimes makes use of the fabric to contemplate the huge array of points born from slavery and its enduring legacy. Each “Hedges” and “The Jones Half 3” proven right here characteristic branches protruding from the surfaces of the home works that make them not possible to make use of, a metaphor Hayden returns to as he examines the inhospitable realities of life within the U.S. “All of my work is in regards to the American dream, whether or not it’s a desk that’s exhausting to sit down at or a thorny faculty desk. It’s a dream that’s seductive however troublesome to inhabit,” he says.

American Vernacular is at the moment obtainable from Bookshop.

 

“Hangers #3” (2018), fir, walnut, and ebony with oak dowel, metal, 11 x 28 ¼ x 12 ½ inches. Non-public assortment

“Good Hair 3 (Brainwash)” (2021), white oak, wire-drawn black boar hair (bristle), steel face masks, 10 x 11 ½ x 9 ½ inches. Non-public assortment

Element of “Hedges” (2019), sculpted wooden, lumber, {hardware}, mirror and carpet, 144 x 208 x 208 inches. Picture by Mark Waldhauser, courtesy of the Shed Open Name

“The Jones Half 3” (2018), sculpted japanese crimson cedar (Juniperus virginiana) with metal, 78 ½ x 180 x 26 ¾ inches. Non-public assortment

Element of “The Jones Half 3” (2018), sculpted japanese crimson cedar (Juniperus virginiana) with metal, 78 ½ x 180 x 26 ¾ inches. Non-public assortment

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