Sharon Hayes is an American
multimedia artist
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to traditio ...
. She came to prominence as an artist and an
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
during the
East Village scene in the early '90s. She primarily works with
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
,
installation
Installation may refer to:
* Installation (computer programs)
* Installation, work of installation art
* Installation, military base
* Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...
, and
performance
A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.
Management science
In the work place ...
as her medium. Using multimedia, she "appropriates, rearranges, and remixes in order to revitalize spirits of dissent".
Hayes's work addresses themes such as romantic love, activism, queer theory, and politics. She incorporates texts from found speeches, recordings, songs, letters, and her own writing into her practice that she describes as “a series of performatives rather than performance.”
Biography
Hayes studied anthropology at
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...
in Brunswick, Maine, and performance art at the
Trinity/La Mama Performing Arts Program in New York in the early 1990s. She participated in the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art from 1999 to 2000, and received an MFA in interdisciplinary studies from the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
in 2003. She is an Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.
Work
''In the Near Future'' (2005–2008)
''In the Near Future'' was created through four iterations staged in London, New York, Vienna, and Warsaw, with additional performances in Brussels and Paris. In each iteration, Hayes stood on the street each day for a number of days with a different protest sign. The slogans were mostly culled from past protests, although a few speak to the possibility of a future demonstration.
New York, 2005: Commissioned by
Art in General
Art in General was a non-profit contemporary art exhibition space known for its vibrant and ground-breaking projects as a formidable and longstanding New York City alternative space, focused on giving meaningful resources and opportunities to ar ...
, curated by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy.
Vienna, 2006: Presented as part of ''Wieder und Wider: Performance Appropriated'',
MUMOK, curated by Barbara Clausen and Achim Hochdorfer.
Warsaw, 2008:
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, curated by Monika Szczukowska.
London, 2008: Presented as part of ''Perplexed in Public'', curated by Elena Crippa and Silvia Sgualdini.
''Everything Else Has Failed! Don’t You Think It’s Time for Love?'' (2007)
Presented by
Art in General
Art in General was a non-profit contemporary art exhibition space known for its vibrant and ground-breaking projects as a formidable and longstanding New York City alternative space, focused on giving meaningful resources and opportunities to ar ...
for their 25th anniversary exhibition, in downtown Manhattan, ''Everything Else Has Failed! Don’t You Think It’s Time for Love?'' Hayes performed a series of works in front of the UBS Building. Dressed up as a queer office temp, she recited a love letter to an through a microphone and speaker on the street, expressing that "I didn't want the love to be read as heteronormative. Yet I want to be clear that queerness is not some kind of idealized space of politics." The speeches were also recorded and played in the lobby of the UBS building alongside a series of silk-screened works inspired by political posters from the 1960s and 70s.
''Revolutionary Love 1 & 2'' (2008)
For ''Revolutionary Love 1 & 2'', Hayes asked about 100 queer volunteers to recite a text she wrote on gay power and liberation at the 2008 presidential conventions as part of a two-part commission for
Creative Time
Creative Time is a New York-based nonprofit arts organization. It was founded in 1974 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific, socially engaged artworks in the public realm, particularly in vacant spaces of historical and architectura ...
’s public art initiative, “Democracy in America: The National Campaign”, curated by Nato Thompson. Subtitled, ''I Am Your Worst Fear'' for the
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
in Denver, CO and ''I Am Your Best Fantasy'', the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
in St. Paul, MN, the participants recited each ten to twenty minutes long text three times over the course of two hours. Using the charged atmosphere of the conventions as a backdrop for a more personal reflection on love and politics, the piece drew upon the history of the gay liberation movements of the 1970s.
''Parole'' (2010)
''Parole'' is a four-channel video installation composed of semi-autonomous video “scenes” that string together to form a narrative without a story. Focused on a central character who records sound but never speaks, ''Parole'' teases out multiple relationships between politics and desire, intimacy and estrangement, speaking and listening, voice and body. The installation is composed of footage of performed events in New York, London, Frankfurt, and Istanbul, Turkey, as well as staged footage of this sound recorder in various private and semi-public locations.
''Fingernails on a blackboard: Bella'' (2014)
''Fingernails on a blackboard: Bella'' investigates how voice acts as the embodied medium of speech and addresses the political consequences of gender and the specific limitations of power, communication, and relatability in the specter of public speech. The work takes the 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston, TX, as a historical point of departure, which was a result of an executive order to assess the status of women, in light of the United Nations proclaiming 1975 as International Women's Year. Following the well-attended, highly publicized event, an extension was granted for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. But having only been ratified by 35 states by the 1982 deadline, the amendment never passed. The video work uses the transcript of a meeting between politician
Bella Abzug
Bella Savitzky Abzug (July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem, ...
– the New York Congresswoman head of the National Women's Conference – and her vocal coach. During their meeting, the pair work at neutralizing Abzug's regional accent and softening her tone – strategically altering her voice to something more universal and soothing.
''In My Little Corner of the World, Anyone Would Love You'' (2016)
In ''In My Little Corner of the World, Anyone Would Love You'', Hayes investigates queer and feminist archives in the US and the UK documenting gay liberation, women's liberation, as well as the pre-lesbian liberation movements:
Daughters of Bilitis
The Daughters of Bilitis , also called the DOB or the Daughters, was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States. The organization, formed in San Francisco in 1955, was conceived as a social alternative to lesb ...
(US) and
Minorities Research Group
The Minorities Research Group (MRG) (est. 1963)p.96 From the Closet to the Screen – Jill Gardiner was the first organisation to openly advocate the interests of lesbians in the United Kingdom. It was founded by four women who got together in r ...
(UK). Hayes explores the specific limits of gender, the anti-racist work done by lesbian, queer, and transpeople of color to combat racism in white lesbian feminist groups and the historic and contemporary ways in which feminist, lesbian, and queer political collectivities have expanded and constrained gender expression. The work was exhibited at
The Common Guild in Glasgow and
Studio Voltaire
Studio Voltaire is a non-profit gallery and artist studios based in Clapham, South London. The organisation focuses on contemporary arts, staging a celebrated public programme of exhibitions, performances, and live events. Studio Voltaire i ...
in London in 2016.
''If They Should Ask'' (2017)
''If They Should Ask'' was a temporary monument located in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square addressing the lack of monuments dedicated to the women who have contributed to the social, cultural, political and economic life of Philadelphia. Of the hundreds of sculptures in the city that honor historic figures, only two are dedicated to women. ''If They Should Ask'' is a collection of concrete pedestals of existing monuments in the city cast at half-scale and engraved with the names of Philadelphia-area women who have contributed to the city's civic and public life from the mid-1600s to the present day. The piece was created as a part of Monument Lab, a Philadelphia-wide public art and history initiative.
Exhibitions
* 2007: ''I march in the parade of liberty, but as long as I love you I'm not free'', organized by
Massimiliano Gioni
Massimiliano Gioni (born 1973) is an Italian curator and contemporary art critic based in New York City, and Artistic Director at the New Museum. He is the Artistic Director of the Nicola Trussardi Foundation in Milan as well as the Artistic Dire ...
,
New Museum for Contemporary Art (New York)
* 2010:
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Museo may refer to:
* Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film
*Museo (Naples Metro)
Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. ...
(Madrid)
* 2011: ''focus: Sharon Hayes'',
The Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
, Chicago
* 2011: ''In The Near Future'',
Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver
* 2012: ''Sharon Hayes: There's so much I want to say to you'', The
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...
(New York)
* 2012: ''Stage Presence: Theatricality in Art and Media'',
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...
(San Francisco, CA)
* 2012: ''Sharon Hayes'',
The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery
The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery is a part of Skidmore College and located in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Building
The Tang, opened in 2000, was designed by architect Antoine Predock. Predock's design includes two major gal ...
, Saratoga Springs, New York
* 2013:
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
* 2014: ''Sharon Hayes: Loudspeakers and Other Forms of Listening,'' curated by Heather Anderson,
Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa
* 2015: ''Black Box: Sharon Hayes'',
Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland
Awards
Hayes was the 2013 visual arts recipient of the
Alpert Awards in the Arts
The Alpert Award in the Arts was established in the 1994 by The Herb Alpert Foundation in collaboration with the California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, Cali ...
, given annually to five "risk-taking, mid-career" artists by the Herb Alpert foundation and the California Institute of the Arts. The same year, the jury of the 55th
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
awarded Hayes a special mention for her video 'Ricerche: three', 2013. Inspired by Italian filmmaker and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1963 documentary ''
Love Meetings
''Love Meetings'' (''Comizi d'amore'') is a 1965 feature-length documentary, shot by Italian writer and director Pier Paolo Pasolini, who also acts as the interviewer, appearing in many scenes.
Plot
Typical for him, Pasolini's subject is sex: he ...
'', Hayes interviewed 35 students at an all-women's college in western Massachusetts about sexuality, speaking to "a larger way in which we form ourselves as people in relation to collectives". In 2014, Hayes received the
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...
Creative Arts Fellowship.
Bibliography
*
Julia Bryan-Wilson, Jeannine Tang, Lanka Tattersall, ''Sharon Hayes'',
Phaidon, London, 2018.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Sharon
1970 births
American conceptual artists
Women conceptual artists
American installation artists
American performance artists
Artists from Baltimore
Bowdoin College alumni
Feminist artists
Living people
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
21st-century American women artists