Gregory Hayes by Nancy Margolis Gallery

Dawn of a new day. Gregory Hayes

523 West 25th St NYC 10001 212.242.3013

Dawn of a new day. It is easy to forget that not everything we think is real. Our mind can generate realities that can take us to the gates of heaven or the smoldering pits of hell. But it is when we release ourselves from allowing this to happen that we can then see our true reality more clear--that we are much more than thought and form. That like the sun that slowly rises to replace the shadows and reveal the colors of a vast landscape, we can wake our minds to the dawn of a new day. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Gregory Hayes

GREGORY HAYES: Dawn of a new day. April 6 – May 13, 2017

Hayes first studied art at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Colorado. There a serendipitous encounter led him to the process that engages him today in the making of his paintings. In 2005 his teacher Clark Richert handed him a small drip bottle and said, “see what you can do with this.” Taking on the challenge, Hayes filled it with paint and began experimenting. On one occasion the bottle was left unwashed, and he later decided to use it anyway to execute a painting. This led to the unforeseen discovery that fresh paint and remnants left in the bottle, when mixed together and dripped out through the tiny opening, created surprising swirls and twists of color in each drip. From this revelation Hayes saw countless possibilities and began experimenting, leading him to create many diverse series of paintings over the past ten years. Each series relies on the commonality of process, but their overall unique character is drawn from the artist’s inner sensibilities accompanied by an exceptional gift for color. In Hayes’s third solo exhibition his Amalgamation series will be shown by Nancy Margolis Gallery for the first time as a group. These paintings are based on the concept of dripping paint as well as Hayes’s refined intuitive sense of color. His previous series, Color Array, which made up his first two solo exhibitions at Nancy Margolis Gallery, required a structured grid of quarter inch squares penciled onto the canvas, where each drip would be meticulously placed inside the grid to form a larger pattern of concentric squares. The Amalgamation series however, foregoes the grid, allowing a freer reign for the pigment to be dripped directly onto the canvas. The pervading tones in the paintings may appear prominently one color, but on close inspection there are many convex drips of unforeseen colors built up in each painting creating a quasi kaleidoscope effect in a field of radiant color. Hayes will be exhibiting six new large-scale paintings, 60" x 70", that explore the diversity of his technique and the dynamics of his use of color.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Painting is no darling of the art world, and hasn’t been for a long while. Installations, sculptures, multimedia and digital works continue to be the not-so-new zeitgeist. Painting as a medium has certain constraints heralded by the advent of photography and exacerbated by the expansion of the definition of “high art.” Yet that is where Gregory Hayes’s Amalgamation series goes against the tide. First there’s the unique and fascinating drip technique, a battle between the paint’s own properties and the artist’s will. You may find yourself asking, “How did he do that?” The answer is through a special artistic vision combined with a lot of pre-planning, experimentation, and an ultimate acceptance that the final result cannot be completely controlled, though it can be adjusted by a strategic dripping of color here, or maybe there. Then there’s the result, a colorful sea of hypnotic swirls, each one flowing into the other, yet still fighting to maintain its own identity. The Amalgamation series is a move away from the grid-contained structured chaos that Hayes explored in his Primary Array and Color Array series into a disorderly arrangement, one that finds balance within itself and not through any premeditated boundaries. In essence, the framework provided by the grid for each individual drop in his earlier works was abandoned in an attempt to give the paint more freedom, therefore increasing the challenge of controlling the outcome. There is no exact formula for creating these pieces, rendering the final result even more impressive. The random solitary drops combine to create a complete stand-alone structure, partly by accident, partly by intention. Though clearly influenced by artists such as Jackson Pollock and Tara Donovan, Hayes’s Amalgamation paintings also remind the viewer of Monet's Impressionist hues – the way one color seamlessly dissolves into another – and Seurat's pointillism – the individual insignificant dots that create a magnificent whole. The beauty in the Amalgamation paintings, however, is that each individual drop is as mesmerizing as the whole. This is the primary feature that draws one in; you can never gaze enough to satisfy the eye. There is no beginning or end to the paintings; you cannot tell where each work started or where its last drop landed. The Amalgamation series poses the question, wittingly or unwittingly, what is "wall art"? There is no question that the paintings are attractive, a feature many painters fear as a curse of the banal. But these are not passive pieces of wall art. Their aesthetic value is misleading as the paintings speak their own mysterious language, creating an Alice in Wonderland-like rabbit-hole for the imagination. They are meditative, soothing, but equally powerful in their dynamism and vibrancy.

The paintings, in their alluring way, tackle universal themes of control versus submission, the power of the aesthetic, and the boundary between choice and chance. They make the viewer think before she is even aware of being sucked into the paintings’ seductive vortex. These paintings welcome your senses to the overwhelmingly captivating, complex world of color, structure and vision. The viewer should be aware that the artist’s process is not completely random. Hayes’s choice of colors is carefully thought out, as is their spacing. But you never know exactly how each drop will land. You cannot predict the result of an accidental quiver of the artist’s normally steady hand. In so many ways, then, the Amalgamation paintings reflect their creator’s own character. For even in their wildness, there is harmony and in their serendipity, there is a deliberate plan. Keep dripping, Gregory Hayes. Ilona Aleksandrova M.A. Art History CUNY, Brooklyn College

IN MY WORK I STRIVE FOR EXACTNESS. Perhaps it is paradoxical that in striving for perfection—and never reaching it—it is there that you actually find it. But perfection starts to look different. It is the imperfect that becomes unique, the flaws that become interesting, the randomness that leads to new ideas. Perfection as an ideal is a limited perspective, but very ingrained in us all—very powerful. So to widen, or change, its hold on our ideas it could allow us to use this power to see more of the beauty that is around us everyday. Perfection is everywhere. Its limits come from the perception of the thinker. For me perfection is allowing each mark I make to reveal itself in that moment. I have a pretty good idea of what I’d like things to look like, but I let it be open, to bend or flow as it needs to. Being ok with that—the boundary between control and lack of control— is what I’d consider perfect. -Gregory Hayes

Installation photo, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dawn of a new day.â&#x20AC;? Solo Exhibition at Nancy Margolis Gallery

Detail, 1st Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

1st Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

Detail, 3rd Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

3rd Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

Detail, 4th Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

4th Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

Detail, 2nd Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

2nd Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

Detail, 5th Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

5th Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

Gregory Hayes in Brooklyn NY studio

Detail, 6th Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

6th Amalgamation 2017 Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 70 inches

GREGORY HAYES Born in 1980 in Buffalo, NY. Lives and works in New York City. EDUCATION 2011 MFA, Brooklyn College, Painting 2006 BFA, Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, Painting SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 DAWN OF A NEW DAY., Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY 2016 I AM THE SUN., Francesca Antonini Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy 2015 STAY GOLD, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY 2014 SHOOTING STAR, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY 2010 RE-SEEING, Rule Gallery, Denver, CO 2008 PRIMARY ARRAY, Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, Denver, CO 2008 SELECTED WORKS, City & County Building, Denver, CO 2007 ARRAY, Rhinoceropolis Gallery, Denver, CO 2006 MACHINE, Institute for Experimental Studies, Denver, CO GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2017 ARTE FIERA, Francesca Antonini Arte Contemporanea, Bologna, Italy 2016 WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS AGAIN IT STARTS TO FEEL NORMAL, Ncontemporary, Turin, Italy 2016 YOUNG INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS, Francesca Antonini Arte Contemporanea, Paris, France 2016 GALLERY ARTISTS: PRE-CHRISTMAS EXHIBITION, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY 2016 GREGORY HAYES / NADIR VALENTE, Ncontemporary, London, UK 2016 INTENT FORTUITY, Jamie Brooks Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA 2016 SMALL WORKS: MORE OR LESS, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY 2015 THE OTHERS FAIR, Ncontemporary, Turin, Italy 2014 WHITE | BLACK, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY 2014 MIAMI PROJECT, Nancy Margolis Gallery, Miami, FL 2014 SUMMER PREVIEW, Victori Contemporary, New York, NY 2014 OUTLINE: BEYOND THE GRID, Jamie Brooks Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA 2014 AQUA14, Victori Contemporary, Miami, FL 2014 SCOPE BASEL, Victori Contemporary, Basel, Switzerland 2014 ART WYNWOOD, Victori Contemporary, Miami, FL 2014 ARTMIX, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO 2013 AQUA13, Victori Contemporary, Miami, FL 2013 EMERGE, Victori Contemporary, Washington, DC 2013 DISPOSITION, Blank Space Gallery, New York, NY (With Anne Russinof) 2013 ARTMIX, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO 2013 14th ANNUAL FIRE ISLAND PINES ART SHOW, Whyte Hall, Fire Island Pines, NY 2013 THE WASSAIC PROJECT SUMMER FESTIVAL, The Maxon Mills, Wassaic, NY 2013 SCOPE BASEL, Victori Contemporary, Basel, Switzerland 2013 ART WYNWOOD, Victori Contemporary, Miami, FL

GROUP EXHIBITIONS CONTINUED 2012 SCOPE MIAMI, Victori Contemporary, Miami, FL 2012 ART BASH, D Gallery, Denver, CO 2012 SPRING GROUP EXHIBITION, Brenda Taylor Gallery, New York, NY 2012 25th ANNUAL NATIONAL WORKS ON PAPER, Abercrombie Gallery, Lake Charles, LA 2012 MADE IN NY, Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY 2011 INTRODUCTIONS, Brooklyn Artists Gym, Brooklyn, NY 2011 WORKS IN PROGRESS, ArtBridge, Atlantic Yards, Brooklyn, NY 2011 13th ANNUAL FIRE ISLAND PINES ART SHOW, Whyte Hall, Fire Island Pines, NY 2011 THE WASSAIC PROJECT SUMMER FESTIVAL, The Maxon Mills, Wassaic, NY 2011 DO IT, Philip J. Steele Gallery, Denver, CO 2011 MEMORY PALACE, Flux Factory, Brooklyn, NY 2011 HYBRID LIFE FORMS, In Rivers, Brooklyn, NY 2011 COLLEGE ART ASSOCIATION NEW YORK AREA MFA EXHIBITION, New York, NY 2011 NORTH AMERICAN GRADUATE ART SURVEY, Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2010 ART BASH, Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO 2010 FEAST OF FOOLS, Second-Floor, Brooklyn, NY 2010 LEARNING CURVE, Marian Spore, Brooklyn, NY 2009 CURLY-Q, Jack The Pelican Presents Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2009 WINTER MT. DEW TOUR: FEATURED ARTIST, Northstar Resort, CA 2007 PEEP SHOW, Rule Gallery, Denver, CO 2007 RED DOT FAIR, Rule Gallery, New York, NY 2006 JURIED SHOW, Pirate Gallery, Denver, CO 2006 XX/YY: THE GENDER SHOW, Flash Gallery, Belmar, CO HONORS & AWARDS 2012 McNeese National Works on Paper, Juror's Mention Award (Selected by Lynn Gumpert) 2011 Dave Bown Projects, “3rd Semiannual Competition,” selected artist 2011 ArtBridge “Works in Progress” Honorarium (Selected by Vik Muniz, Amani Olu & Eugenie Tsai) 2011 College Art Association Professional Development Honorable Mention in the Fine Arts 2005 Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, Most Distinguished Artist RESIDENCIES 2012 Millay Colony, Austerlitz, NY 2011 Fire Island Pines Arts Project, Fire Island, NY

Please contact the gallery for more information: margolis@nancymargolisgallery.com 212 242 3013 523 W. 25th Street New York NY 10001 www.nancymargolisgallery.com

Catalog © 2017 NANCY MARGOLIS GALLERY Courtesy of Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York and Gregory Hayes © Gregory Hayes 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.