Hayden Daughtry (b. 2000) is a multi media artist from South Carolina, USA that is based in the Netherlands and recent alumni of the Fine Arts department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie.
Having grown up within the Deep Southern landscape of the US where simple vernacular iconography comes in forms such as 'billboard evangelism', the works of mine take on an aesthetically local shape with an abstract minimalist awareness. I focus on developing in situ or site-specific sculptural installations. These installations vary in level of humor and take on playful narratives in an attempt to hide an uncanny underbelly, corroborating my interest in an estranged suburban romanticism. I am busy unraveling the variability in obscure corners of roadside culture, and manifesting a new sense of reality which positions my work between classically understood arrangements of fine arts and more regional displays. That bleeds through in works like 'Stumpy on Vacation', a 9-foot tall truck driving bear who stares with a deadpan flare; acknowledging the presence of ominous whispers from a place beyond. The antithesis to Stumpy arrived with the first appearance of his brother, Grumpy in 'Grumpy's World'. Once only a malevolent online mystery, he soon emerged from the abyss as a cosmic evil residing within an art school and seeking to recruit students to do his bidding. In the 'Detective Comics' series, the works unfold as a form of art theater where the crime serial uses homemade puppets, planks, and paint rollers as characters. Usually centered around the theft of a historic painting and its replacement with a forgery, the audience is called to use their breadth of investigative knowledge to figure out whodunnit. My works and their physical positions find place on all surfaces of spaces, or underground and outside entirely, particular to each occasion that arises. These attempts reflect a personal desire to offer a moment of sociological probing, as reminders of depleting fields of the human experience.
︎︎︎ Email
Education
Gerrit Rietveld Academie, 2020-2025
Charleston County School of the Arts, 2011-2018
Exhibitions
2025
Heartthrob Wig, Kate, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
Gerrit Rietveld Academie Graduation Show, Amsterdam Predisposing Ground, M4Gastatelier, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
2024
Buddy, Burgemeester de Vlugtlaan 125, Amsterdam, Duo Exhibition with Bas Nieuwenhuijzen
Leading with a Toe, Zeeburgerpad 53, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
2023
Every Room Has a Silver Lining, Werkpaard, Amsterdam, Fine Arts 1 Group Exhibition
7°, 2°, Manenburgstraat 43, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
2022
No Pressure Pressing and Friends, Zeedijk 128, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
2021
Yolk 3, 4bid Gallery, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
Publications
2025
Diving Beneath the Surface: Excerpts from the Embodied American Uncanny, Self-Published
2023
Make the Claim Fanzine Issue #1, Self-Published
2022
A Sunny Day is Slowly Going Away, Self-Published
2021
The Rules of Translating a Film, Self-Published
Having grown up within the Deep Southern landscape of the US where simple vernacular iconography comes in forms such as 'billboard evangelism', the works of mine take on an aesthetically local shape with an abstract minimalist awareness. I focus on developing in situ or site-specific sculptural installations. These installations vary in level of humor and take on playful narratives in an attempt to hide an uncanny underbelly, corroborating my interest in an estranged suburban romanticism. I am busy unraveling the variability in obscure corners of roadside culture, and manifesting a new sense of reality which positions my work between classically understood arrangements of fine arts and more regional displays. That bleeds through in works like 'Stumpy on Vacation', a 9-foot tall truck driving bear who stares with a deadpan flare; acknowledging the presence of ominous whispers from a place beyond. The antithesis to Stumpy arrived with the first appearance of his brother, Grumpy in 'Grumpy's World'. Once only a malevolent online mystery, he soon emerged from the abyss as a cosmic evil residing within an art school and seeking to recruit students to do his bidding. In the 'Detective Comics' series, the works unfold as a form of art theater where the crime serial uses homemade puppets, planks, and paint rollers as characters. Usually centered around the theft of a historic painting and its replacement with a forgery, the audience is called to use their breadth of investigative knowledge to figure out whodunnit. My works and their physical positions find place on all surfaces of spaces, or underground and outside entirely, particular to each occasion that arises. These attempts reflect a personal desire to offer a moment of sociological probing, as reminders of depleting fields of the human experience.
︎︎︎ Email
Education
Gerrit Rietveld Academie, 2020-2025
Charleston County School of the Arts, 2011-2018
Exhibitions
2025
Heartthrob Wig, Kate, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
Gerrit Rietveld Academie Graduation Show, Amsterdam Predisposing Ground, M4Gastatelier, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
2024
Buddy, Burgemeester de Vlugtlaan 125, Amsterdam, Duo Exhibition with Bas Nieuwenhuijzen
Leading with a Toe, Zeeburgerpad 53, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
2023
Every Room Has a Silver Lining, Werkpaard, Amsterdam, Fine Arts 1 Group Exhibition
7°, 2°, Manenburgstraat 43, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
2022
No Pressure Pressing and Friends, Zeedijk 128, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
2021
Yolk 3, 4bid Gallery, Amsterdam, Group Exhibition
Publications
2025
Diving Beneath the Surface: Excerpts from the Embodied American Uncanny, Self-Published
2023
Make the Claim Fanzine Issue #1, Self-Published
2022
A Sunny Day is Slowly Going Away, Self-Published
2021
The Rules of Translating a Film, Self-Published