Ian Hughes
Ian Hughes – Works available on Artsy (link)
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.
EDUCATION
1986 M.F.A., Columbia University School of the Arts,
Division of Painting and Sculpture, New York, NY
1981 B.A., Yale University, New Haven, CT
1980 Yale Summer School of Art at Norfolk, Norfolk, CT
Ellen Stoeckel Battel Fellowship Recipient
SELECT EXHIBITIONS – SOLO (S) GROUP (G)
2016 Paint Heads, curated by Charles Marburg, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, LIC, NY
2015 Context Art Miami, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York (G)
2014 Context Art Miami, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York (G)
2014 Ian Hughes Paintings 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel New York, NY
2013 Ten Artists Adelson Galleries Boston, MA
2012 Untitled Art Fair, South Beach, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York (S)
2012 Context Art Miami, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York (G)
2012 Ian Hughes Paintings, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York (S)
2012 Art Wynwood, Miami, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York (G)
2011 Aqua Art Miami, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York (G)
2010 Inside Out, Ian Hughes Paintings, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York (S)
2010 Aqua, Miami,532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York (G)
2009 Paper in the Wind, curated by David Gibson, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel , New York, NY (G)
2003 New Works on Paper, Victoria Munroe Fine Art, Boston, MA
2002 25th Anniversary Exhibition, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Watercolor: In the Abstract, conceived by Melissa Meyers, curated by Pamela Auchincloss and Alex Muse
2002 Michael C Rockefeller Arts Center Gallery, SUNY College, Fredonia, NY (G)
2002 Butler Institute of America, Youngstown, OH (G)
2002 Ben Shahn Gallery, William Patterson University, Wayne, NJ (G)
2002 Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (G)
2001 Hyde Collection Art Museum, Glens Falls, N.Y. (G)
Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1999 Surfing the Surface, DFN Gallery, New York, NY
1998 Abstraction in Process, Artists Space, New York, NY; (G)
curated by Irving Sandler and Claudia Gould
1991 White Room: Paintings, White Columns Gallery, New York, NY
1991, White Columns Gallery, New York, NY
1990 Hall Walls, Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo, NY
1989 Climate ‘89, Condeso/Lawler Gallery, New York, NY
1988 Drawings, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
1985 Selections 31, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
AWARDS
1996 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship Recipient for Painting
BIBLIOGRAPH
New American Paintings, Open Studios Press, Boston, MA. March, 2005
Rose, Barbara. “Watercolor: In the Abstract.” Exhibition catalogue essay, September 2001 (color illustration)
Everett, Deborah. “Double Vision: Studio Visit with Ian Hughes.” NY Arts, September 1999, p54. (reproduction)
Johnson, Ken. “Abstraction in Process II.” The New York Times, February 6, 1998, p. E36.
Atamian, Christopher. “Abstraction in Process II.” Review, February 15, 1998.
Gibson, David. “Abstraction in Process II.” NY Arts, March-April 1998, p.17 (reproduction)
Arning, Bill. Update 1991. (exhibition catalogue) Fall, 1991.
Chaet, Bernard. The Art of Drawing (Third Edition). Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1983, (reproductions)