Portrait of Hayley Barker by Maya Fuhr
Night Gallery is thrilled to announce the representation of the Los Angeles-based artist Hayley Barker. This partnership follows Barker’s inclusion in the group show Shrubs in 2021; she will present her debut solo exhibition at the gallery in February 2023.
Hayley Barker’s paintings linger on the threshold, possessing an intangible quality that is at once otherworldly and intimately recognizable. Her works find the sublime in the everyday—small paths, gardens, potted plants—and are rendered in lush, chromatic palettes that give the effect of a mirage. The tempered yet highly intentional application of paint allows for this unexpected grandeur to take central focus, as Barker continuously brings a radical awareness to seemingly quotidian scenes. Several of her recent works are set during dusk and night, and the liminality of these daily stages suggests an imaginative, nonlinear relationship with time. Indeed, the artist describes her works as spaces of passage, wherein naturalistic observations give way to transcendental ruminations on life’s phases, relationships, and the self. Across her practice, Barker finds solace in slowing down, reveling in the vast microcosms contained in our side yards and on our porches.
Hayley Barker (b. 1973, Oregon) has had solo exhibitions at SHRINE, New York; BozoMag, Los Angeles; Holding Contemporary, Portland; Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles; and Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland. Her work has been featured in group presentations at Night Gallery, Los Angeles; Harper’s, East Hampton; Adams and Ollman, Portland; Nicodim, Los Angeles; and SHRINE, New York, among others. Barker has been featured in several publications, including Artforum, Forbes, Hyperallergic, Artillery, LA Weekly, and the Los Angeles Times. Her work belongs in the permanent collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, OH; Oregon State University, Corvallis; and the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa City. In 2023, she will present her debut solo exhibition at Night Gallery. Barker lives and works in Los Angeles.