Ian Hughes
"My artwork represents a longstanding belief in the possibility of translating human experience and feeling through the raw materials of painting. For quite some time I have been probing an artistic vein in which naturalistic forms shape-shift inside an abstract color space. The figuration is rooted in the human body, and more specifically, the links between brain and viscera. The physicality of working large allows the body to override the brain; only then does the door open to serendipity. When successful, the imagery and the materials combine to create a psychological and emotional charge with the viewer.
I don’t think of myself as a figurative painter, and yet figuration clearly looms large in these paintings. Indeed, this body of work belongs to an ongoing series titled “Twisted Figures”, a play on both the literal meaning of twisted (coiled, torqued, wrung) and the non-literal (warped, unstable, abnormal). I’m not interested in narratives, but I am interested in the potential for metaphor. I think of these paintings as of the body and embodiments of… They are very physical in their making, visceral in appearance, and suggest a figure under intense stress, embattled, and thus very much of our world."
- Ian Hughes (artist statement)
Ian Hughes’ paintings probe an artistic vein in which naturalistic forms shape-shift on top of a flat color-space. He explores the psychological and emotional link between the brain and the viscera, forming a kind of connective tissue with the viewer. Fluid, intertwining, and semi-transparent forms exude a bodily presence while suggesting a tangle of shifting associations. Hughes seduces with sensuous textures and a luscious palette of chromatic pinks, yellows and turquoise blues modulated by pearl whites and carbon blacks. For Hughes, the color field is a stage on which to choreograph a visual and psychological drama.
Hughes’ work has appeared in numerous group shows in New York City, including featured exhibitions at The Drawing Center (Selections 31) and a White Room exhibit at White Columns (1991) curated by Bill Arning. In 1998, Artists’ Space featured three large Hughes paintings in an exhibition celebrating its 25th Anniversary and curated by Irving Sandler, Founder, and Claudia Gould, Director. Hughes received his B.A. in 1981 from Yale College, where he also attended the Yale Summer School of Art at Norfolk, CT, and his MFA in 1984 from Columbia University School of Art. He was selected for a solo booth in the 2012 inaugural edition of UNTITLED: Miami, curated by Omar Lopez-Chahoud. Hughes lives and works in New York City.
-
CONTEXT Art Miami
29 Nov - 4 Dec 2022532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel is pleased to partake in CONTEXT Art Miami's 10th edition *BOOTH B14* Featuring works by: Diana Copperwhite, Danny Rolph, John Alexander Parks, Zayasikhan Sambuu, Sínead Ní...Read more -
ART ON PAPER New York
Pier 36 New York 8 - 11 Sep 2022532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel presents at Art on Paper works by Per Adolfsen, Carlos R. Cardenas, Diana Copperwhite, Susana Guerrero, Ian Hughes, Paco Marcial, Jean-Guerly Petion, Heidrun Rathgeb, Alberto A....Read more -
First Annual Good on Paper Exhibit: Drawings and Paintings
18 Mar - 30 Apr 2022532 Gallery Good on Paper ExhibitionRead more -
Context Art Miami 2021
1 - 19 Dec 2021 -
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary: Art Wynwood 2021
24 Feb - 14 Mar 2021 -
Art Miami & CONTEXT Art Miami 2020
1 - 20 Dec 2020 -
Art New York 2018
3 - 6 May 2018 -
Art Wynwood 2018
15 - 19 Feb 2018 -
Ten Years After
11 Jan - 16 Feb 2018Gustavo Acosta Gustavo Acosta was born in in Havana, Cuba in 1958, and is currently based in Miami. His intensely hued portrayals of sites in Havana, Miami, New York, and...Read more -
CONTEXT New York 2017
3 - 7 May 2017 -
Winter Salon 2017
4 Feb - 4 Mar 2017It’s that time of the year for the gallery’s annual Winter Salon. This show features new works by Gustavo Acosta, Bernard Ammerer, Bergman & White, Marcy Brafman, Kathy Bruce, Marie...Read more -
CONTEXT Pier 94, New York 2016
3 - 8 May 2016 -
Winter Salon
5 - 22 Feb 2016Jaeckel Gallery is pleased to present a winter group show. This show features many returning artists to our gallery, as well as a few artists showing with us for the...Read more -
CONTEXT Art Miami 2015
1 - 5 Dec 2015 -
Twisted Figures
9 Oct - 8 Nov 2014Over the arc of his career, Ian Hughes has honed a distinctive visual language in which paint reveals its lushest and most viscous qualities while simultaneously giving shape to bio-reminiscent...Read more -
Ian Hughes- Solo Show
26 Apr - 26 May 2012Curtain (Pink)Read more
2012
Acrylic on Canvas
96 x 108 -
Inside out
10 May - 7 Jun 2010Hughes’ paintings (here represented by large, medium and small scale works) re-examine and renew the always delicate relationship between color and form. Hughes’ forms are strangely suggestive, but of what...Read more -
Paper in the Wind
23 Jun - 7 Jul 2009Rosa Almeida, Marcy Brafman, Zac Braun, Amy Chaiklin, Chrissy Conant, Veronica Cross, Alicia Gibson, James Gilroy, Ian Hughes, Liz Insogna, Yuliya Lanina, D. Dominick Lombardi, Sandra Mack-Valencia, Norma Markley, Jesse...Read more
-
2022 CONTEXT Art Miami
29 Nov - 4 Dec 2022View Works on Artsy (link)Read more -
Hamptons Fine Art Fair 2022
14 - 17 Jul 2022View Works on Artsy (link)Read more -
2021 CONTEXT Art Miami
1 - 19 Dec 2021View Works on Artsy (link)Read more -
2020 Pinta Miami LIVE
2 - 15 Dec 2020PINTA MIAMI – Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art Show, in its 14th edition continues to present projects with international curators showcasing Latin American art...Read more -
2020 CONTEXT Art Miami
1 - 20 Dec 2020Vew Works on Artsy (link) CONTEXT Art Miami fair is a proven destination and serious marketplace for top collectors to acquire important works from the...Read more -
Art Wynwood 2018
15 - 18 Feb 2018View Works on Artsy (link)Read more
-
2022 CONTEXT Art Miami
29 Nov - 4 Dec 2022View Works on Artsy (link)Read more -
Hamptons Fine Art Fair 2022
14 - 17 Jul 2022View Works on Artsy (link)Read more -
2021 CONTEXT Art Miami
1 - 19 Dec 2021View Works on Artsy (link)Read more -
2020 Pinta Miami LIVE
2 - 15 Dec 2020PINTA MIAMI – Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art Show, in its 14th edition continues to present projects with international curators showcasing Latin American art...Read more -
2020 CONTEXT Art Miami
1 - 20 Dec 2020Vew Works on Artsy (link) CONTEXT Art Miami fair is a proven destination and serious marketplace for top collectors to acquire important works from the...Read more -
Art Wynwood 2018
15 - 18 Feb 2018View Works on Artsy (link)Read more