In Hugh Hayden: American Vernacular, New York sculptor Hugh Hayden presents an iconography of American identity. Meticulously crafted, these darkly humorous sculptures of everyday life from the kitchen, nursery, church, and playground represent Hayden’s examination into how ordinary objects reflect the layers and complexities of the American story.

Join Hayden for an artist talk delving into these themes, including key artworks and insights into his artistic practice and process. He will be introduced by guest curator Sarah Montross, Museum Director and Chief Curator at the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, who organized the exhibition for the Frye Art Museum.

About the Presenters

Hugh Hayden holds an MFA from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University. Recent and current solo exhibitions include Hugh Hayden: Home Work at the Rose Art Museum; Hugh Hayden: Homecoming at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX; Boogey Men at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, Miami, FL, which traveled to the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, TX; Hugh Hayden: Creation Myths, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ; and Hugh Hayden at White Columns, New York, NY. Recent group exhibitions include Forest of Dreams: Contemporary Tree Sculpture, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI (2023), and NGV Triennial, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (2023). Hayden holds positions on advisory councils at Columbia University School of the Arts, Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, and Cornell College of Architecture Art and Planning. His work is part of numerous public collections, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, Miami, FL,; deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA; Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ; and the Smart Museum, Chicago, IL.

Sarah Montross is Museum Director and Chief Curator, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, The Trustees. She has organized numerous exhibitions including Jeffrey Gibson: INFINITE INDIGENOUS QUEERLOVE (2021), Visionary New England (2020), and Screens: Virtual Material (2017). Prior to deCordova, she worked at Bowdoin College Museum of Art where she organized shows and publications including Past Futures: Science Fiction, Space Travel, and Postwar Art of the Americas.