Castor Gallery is pleased to announce Jeanette Hayes, Despicable Me 5, an exhibition of new oil paintings and video work by New York based artist, Jeanette Hayes. This exhibition will be the artist’s second solo exhibition with Castor Gallery.

Continuing her exploration of collage and abundance, Hayes’ new body of work considers excessive media exposure and the representation and ideation of despicable characters within visual media on both classic and contemporary timescales. These unique paintings capture a singular imagery composed of the merging of holographic, renaissance, modern and manga figures. Using the internet as a source material, Hayes accumulates images connected to different eras in an effort to disrupt the viewer’s timeline, similar to the bombardment of visual imagery in contemporary media which allows for dynamic, vibrant and striking compositions.

Jeanette Hayes’s depiction of high speed motion elements, such as a roller coasters and monster trucks, as well as her appropriation of film studio logos, explores the relationship we have with entertainment; fast paced media that grab the viewer’s attention to engage screen-deep human-centered fantasy-realities. From this vantage, the artist reimagines representations of the taboo through the merging of mythological, classical, and pop figures.

By referring to masters such as Michelangelo, whose female figures assumed heroic roles traditionally allowed to male characters, or to Leonardo di Vinci in her subversion of the vitruvian man to a vitruvian woman, Hayes creates an imaginary space where the juxtaposition of classical and pop figures creates temporal disruption and establishes the inhabitation of a fantasy populated by triumphant female personae. Hayes examines a world with destain for morality and fascination with the egregious, her new works are anti-utopia but pro-copacetic existence. She embraces and reconciles the insatiable nature of our digital era with notions of fulfillment by establishing new agency for iconic and heroic characters in this particular microcosm.

Jeanette Hayes: (b. 1988) Known for her collage-like aesthetic, Hayes uses mixed media to build a bridge between high and popular culture. Her Renaissance and Baroque paintings are interfered by internet icons and anime characters. Prior solo shows include Castor Gallery and Romeo NYC. Group shows include The Hole, Half Gallery, Anonymous Gallery & M+B Gallery LA. Video work includes projects for Chanel, Alexander Wang, & Proenza Schouler. Hayes is based in New York and received her BFA from Pratt.