GREGORY HAYES

GREGORY HAYES
GREGORY HAYES
SHOOTING STAR
April 3 - May 17, 2014
GREGORY HAYES SHOOTING STAR
April 3 - May 17, 2014
nancy margolis gallery
523 West 25th Street. New York. NY 10001 nancymargolisgallery.com
Nancy Margolis Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Gregory Hayes’s first solo
New York exhibition, Shooting Star April 3, 2014 and on view through May 17, 2014. The
opening reception will take place Thursday, April 3, from 6–8 pm.
In his large-scale acrylic-on-canvas Color Array paintings, Hayes explores the possibilities of paint through minimalist, pattern-based compositions. The works in Shooting
Star explore mark making and the fluidity—physically and theoretically—of paint as a
medium. The framework and pattern for each work starts with a grid of ¼” squares.
Employing a plastic squeeze bottle filled with multiple colors of acrylic paint, tiny drops
are meticulously dripped onto the surface into the set pattern of concentric squares. The
proportion of colors within each drip changes organically and gradually over time, yielding unexpected variation as the layers of paint in the bottle gently mix. Together, viewed
at a distance, each drop of paint merges into a larger unity that separates and changes
when close up. The artist’s hand is revealed in the slightly wavering graphite lines of the
grid and the somewhat off-centered placement of the varying dots of color. Herein lies the
central push-and-pull of Hayes’s work. In spite of the obsessive exactness of the underlying grid, and the execution of layering dots of color, each mark is a unique loose swirl of
paint; at the same time, each contributes to the complexity of the overall design.
In this way, Shooting Star is more an investigation into the vocabulary of painting than
homage to any particular art genre. For instance, as the name of the Color Array series
suggests, Hayes is much concerned with color, and especially with color mixing. In each
work, the drips play a part in a large-scale color-based pattern; yet, on a small- scale, each
drip contains its own kaleidoscopic pattern of color. Indeed Hayes’s works are decidingly
self-aware: a drop of paint at once references the history mark making, and the immediacy, spontaneity, and complexity of paint as a medium. The exhibition’s overall coolness
of mood is owed more to the depth of artistic intrigue than to the works’ minimalist aesthetic. In spite of Hayes’s simple artistic vocabulary-and also because of it—the viewer
is made acutely aware of the forces at play here and in painting at large—between the
calculated and the expressive, the planned and the accidental, the rigidity of confinement
and the fluid, tactile nature of paint.
Untitled (BYVM), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
DETAIL: Untitled (BYVM), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
Untitled (OB), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
DETAIL: Untitled (OB), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
Untitled (RYB), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
DETAIL: Untitled (BYVM), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
Untitled (RYUR), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
DETAIL: Untitled (RYUR), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
Untitled (VY), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
DETAIL: Untitled (VY), 2011
Acrylic on canvas
60” x 60”
Untitled (YGR), 2014
Acrylic on paper
41.5” x 41.5”
DETAIL: Untitled (YGR), 2014
Acrylic on paper
41.5” x 41.5”
Untitled (BTG), 2014
Acrylic on paper
20” x 20”
Untitled (TYR), 2014
Acrylic on paper
20” x 20”
Untitled M, 2014
Acrylic on paper
12.75” x 12.75”
Untitled N, 2014
Acrylic on paper
12.75” x 12.75”
“There are moments in time that are unrepeatable. They hold great power in our
lives and can change our existence. It is when chance and control collide. It is
when we lift up our eyes and they fall upon a shooting star…” -gdh
nancy margolis gallery
GREGORY HAYES is based in Brooklyn, New York. Hayes began studying art
with original Drop City artist Clark Richert at the Rocky Mountain College of
Art + Design, where he received his BFA in Painting and was named Most
Distinguished Artist. He received his MFA in Painting from the City University
of New York, Brooklyn College where he studied with Vito Acconci. Hayes has
exhibited in renowned institutions throughout the United States including
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Rocky Mountain College, SCOPE Basel, Art Wynwood, SCOPE Miami, and with the College Art Association (CAA)
New York. He has also been featured in numerous publications, including the
Brooklyn Downtown Star, the Denver Post, the Huffington Post and Art Fag
City. This is his first exhibition with Nancy Margolis Gallery.
Catalog © 2014 NANCY MARGOLIS GALLERY
Courtesy of Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York and Gregory Hayes
Design © Samantha Fricano
Photography © Gregory Hayes
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced,
or transmitted in any form or by any other means, electronic or mechanical
now known or hereafter invented, without written permission of publisher.
Please contact the gallery for more information:
523 W. 25th Street. New York. NY 10001 212 242 3013 nancymargolisgallery.com