2017 Catalogue Archive

Kirk Hayes bases his paintings on his own collages, recreating them into highly illusionistic paintings, carefully mimicking every shadow and torn edge of the original piece. Hayes devotes careful attention to making even the trivial aspects of the illusion perfect. Here, overlapping masking tape and the texture of ripped cardboard are part of his remarkable trompe l’oeil effects. Recurring “characters” shown in mottled pink populate Hayes’ paintings, often gesturing or performing to the viewer. Here, the pink blob wears three yellow scraps as a wig, facing the viewer and announcing the “toupee” with the text below. Hayes is a self-taught artist who lives and works in Fort Worth and has exhibited across Texas and in New York.