Gregory Hayes | Magic Mirrors: Opening Reception: Nov 2, 2023 5-7 PM

Maybaum Gallery is pleased to present Magic Mirrors, our third solo show for New York based artist Gregory Hayes.The new body of work is based on an eponymous poem by the artist, and aims to create portals of color that reflect back the true self to the viewer as a mirror would, in hopes that one can understand oneself closer with the experience of the painting.

Gregory Hayes combines his chosen pigments and then drips them directly onto the substrate allowing the paint to consolidate into small spheres and dry without dripping. Meticulously sequestered into grids first by hand, these dripped drops are organized along the picture plane in stunning patterns that emphasize the magic that can occur in varying tints and shades, and how color can transform with simple manipulations of linework. He fills his dropper with his chosen colors, and as the paint is pushed through drop by drop the mixing paint within the dropper creates the gradient and variation in the drops that you witness in his work.These competing tones oscillate within their boundaries creating a kaleidoscopic experience that references the optic art of modernism.

"Like the sea is said to reflect back what is the truest self—more so then a real mirror—it would be my hope that like the sea, these works can be portals too, to a personal experience of understanding oneself more, to help reach a place of peace and calm in the mind—essentially to stop thinking, analyzing, and judging. That they do reflect back the truest self and that help set sail to a more fulfilling life.”

Greg Hayes on Magic Mirrors