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Hannah Bays
Hanging Light
“My painting Hanging Light depicts the head as an upside light bulb, fusing consciousness with technology. The light bulb is a common visual metaphor for ‘idea’ and with artificial intelligence and gene-editing technology well on the way, for me this painting is a consideration of possible futures. There is something alienating and monstrous about a head detached from its body, yet in this age of rapid technological advancement it is quite easy to imagine that a head might at some point live without body and that objects will gain sentience. It is an ancient idea but there are current philosophical discussions on the nature of consciousness that suppose that it resides in all building blocks of matter, in all things, to a greater or lesser degree.” – Hannah Bays
Hannah Bays is an English artist currently living and working in London. The artist is interested in anthropomorphism and the relationship of the body to inanimate objects. She works with both abstraction and formalism and the subject of human behaviour is often at the centre of her work. Her bold lines and strong use of colour speak to the theme of desire that much of her body of work explores. The more spontaneous gestures in her paintings add to the fantastical and abstract nature of some of her work.
Bays is the recipient of the Agnes Ethel Mackay Travel Award, Royal Academy Schools, London, UK; Jerwood Purchase Prize, Royal Academy Schools, London, UK; Creekside Open 2019 prizewinner, APT Gallery, London, UK.
Bays solo exhibitions include RRU Residency presentation, The Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK, 2008; Desire Peaks, Cob Gallery, London, UK, 2016; A Little Death, 6 Burlington Arcade, London, UK, 2009. Her works have been included in such group exhibitions as The End, Chalton Gallery, London, UK, 2020; The People’s Mandate, Metro Auditorio, Mexico City, Mexico, 2020; Royal Academy Schools Show, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 2015; Premiums Interim Projects, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 2014.
Her work is in the permanent collection of notable institutions such as Soho House Collection, UK; Hiscox Collection, UK; Leslie Collection, Ireland.
“My painting Hanging Light depicts the head as an upside light bulb, fusing consciousness with technology. The light bulb is a common visual metaphor for ‘idea’ and with artificial intelligence and gene-editing technology well on the way, for me this painting is a consideration of possible futures. There is something alienating and monstrous about a head detached from its body, yet in this age of rapid technological advancement it is quite easy to imagine that a head might at some point live without body and that objects will gain sentience. It is an ancient idea but there are current philosophical discussions on the nature of consciousness that suppose that it resides in all building blocks of matter, in all things, to a greater or lesser degree.” – Hannah Bays
Hannah Bays is an English artist currently living and working in London. The artist is interested in anthropomorphism and the relationship of the body to inanimate objects. She works with both abstraction and formalism and the subject of human behaviour is often at the centre of her work. Her bold lines and strong use of colour speak to the theme of desire that much of her body of work explores. The more spontaneous gestures in her paintings add to the fantastical and abstract nature of some of her work.
Bays is the recipient of the Agnes Ethel Mackay Travel Award, Royal Academy Schools, London, UK; Jerwood Purchase Prize, Royal Academy Schools, London, UK; Creekside Open 2019 prizewinner, APT Gallery, London, UK.
Bays solo exhibitions include RRU Residency presentation, The Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK, 2008; Desire Peaks, Cob Gallery, London, UK, 2016; A Little Death, 6 Burlington Arcade, London, UK, 2009. Her works have been included in such group exhibitions as The End, Chalton Gallery, London, UK, 2020; The People’s Mandate, Metro Auditorio, Mexico City, Mexico, 2020; Royal Academy Schools Show, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 2015; Premiums Interim Projects, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 2014.
Her work is in the permanent collection of notable institutions such as Soho House Collection, UK; Hiscox Collection, UK; Leslie Collection, Ireland.
