David Hayes
In his second solo exhibition, Brisbane-based artist David Hayes focuses his paintbrush on the human experience in our rapidly shrinking global village.
‘Eternity’ continues Hayes’ ongoing study of the human condition. ‘My work continues to reference the relationships and tensions between vulnerability and strength, the global and the personal; all inextricably linked,’ reflects the artist. Delicate flowers engulf or grow from military ephemera, blurring the realms of what we consider characteristics of strength or vulnerability, the powerful and the weak. Rendered with sleek strokes of acrylic on aluminium composite, the still lives fuse foreground with background to create a sense of surreality; as if something is awry. There is danger embedded in the lush petals, polished surfaces and benevolent colours.
Metaphorical in nature, the paintings examine global and personal power struggles as Hayes considers how we’re affected individually in an age of rapid global change. Though humans haven’t changed biologically in millennia, our world has changed at an unprecedented rate; globalisation, connectivity, automation, innovation, political and social shifts. The artist questions how – throughout all the upheaval, divides, destruction and disruption – the human spirit has endured, adapted and continued.
EXHIBITION
David Hayes: Eternity
18 September to 12 October 2019
Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane
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