for the walking purpose
March 25 – May 13, 2010
Reception for the Artist: Thursday, March 25, 5 – 8 pm
West Hollywood, CA—Sam Lee Gallery at the Pacific Design Center is pleased to present a solo exhibition entitled for the walking purpose by Los Angeles-based artist Nathan Hayden. The show opens March 25 and closes May 13, 2010. The gallery will host an opening reception for the artist on Thursday, May 25, 5 to 8 p.m.
Nathan Hayden’s for the walking purpose features an intimate installation of 48 small, color drawings made during a four-month journey through Europe in late 2009 and since his return to California via New York in 2010. Traveling through England, France, Holland, and Germany, Hayden created a collection of pocket-sized drawings on heavy watercolor paper, each measuring approximately 2-by-3 inches. For the exhibition, each gem-like work is individually framed and uniformly displayed in a grid-like fashion. A marked departure from the precise rendering of earlier drawings, these latest pieces represent the artist’s idiosyncratic approach to creating a mental and visual journal synthesized through his own memories and experiences from this particular sojourn.
for the walking purpose is about a state of mind rather than a depiction of the specificity of place. The resultant imagery is comprised of numerous points of reference; they range from Native American textiles to the Bayeux Tapestry, and from abstraction to cartoon illustration. In addition, the artist utilizes gathered plants such as woad (a mustard plant yielding a luscious indigo hue) and earth pigments made into watercolors. In no need to panic (2009-2010), a narrow, comic strip-like figure adorned with a pointy crown and wings hovers over a barren landscape reminiscent of a Renaissance religious apotheosis. like a lover to the energy depicts a psychedelic kaleidoscope, a trippy color wheel with abstract shapes, resembling a visual hallucination. Seen as a whole, the drawings create a glorious ride.
Hayden received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2009, and his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Miami University in 2001. He has mounted several group and solo shows throughout the United States, but this marks his first solo show with the gallery.
Digital images are available for press purposes. Please email (info@samleegallery.com) for reproduction requests.
Sam Lee Gallery at the Pacific Design Center is located at 8687 Melrose Avenue, Suite B267, W. Hollywood, CA 90069-5730, Phone 323-788-3535, Facsimile 323-227-0256. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 12 to 5 pm and by appointment. Pacific Design Center is located on the corner of Melrose Avenue and San Vicente Boulevard. Metered street and structure parking are available; entrance for the structure parking is located on Melrose Avenue, 1/4 block west of Huntley Drive. The gallery is located on the 2nd floor in the Blue Building. Take the west escalator to the 2nd level; the gallery is to the left next to the Conference Room. For detailed information, please visit the gallery’s website, www.samleegallery.com.