Ticketing
Miles McEnery Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by James Hayward, on view 6 September through 6 October at 525 West 22nd Street. A public reception will be held for the artist on Thursday 6 September from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication, featuring an essay by Frances Colpitt.
James Hayward’s heavy impasto style and gestural, arcing brushstrokes give his paintings a wonderfully tactile appeal. In many of his works, the development from flat to thick is evident as brushstrokes are layered atop one another. The relationship between weight and color is depicted as light hits the varied depths of the brushstroke, while the role of texture is explored in each movement lifting up towards the edge of the canvas. Rather than being an extension of self, as gestural paintings often are, his works represent a sense of selflessness, as they do not embody his character or emotions. In lacking a biographical quality, Hayward’s paintings have the ability to relate to the viewer directly, evoking a personal response from every individual.
This exhibition features works created between 2001 and 2018, many from his Abstract Diptychs and Chromachords series. The Abstract Diptychs are one-color paintings consisting of pure, un-mixed, and vigorously painted colors while the Chromachords are four-color works, in which the artist blends the various pigments directly on the canvas. Hayward himself explains that “the idea was four pure colors, worked together on the surface of the painting to become a fifth, unknown color,” resulting in compositions that are visually intriguing and sublimely dynamic.
Hayward’s belief in the relationship between art and viewer is clearly illustrated in these paintings, as each work serves to create a unique reaction to bold color, strong texture, and fervent movement. As Colpitt comments, “In the ‘neutral’ Chromachords and Abstract Diptychs. . .the viewer is challenged to conceive of the overall color from its slyly revealed components. Hayward’s sophisticated sense of color has never been so boldly on display.”
