Jodi Hays (b. 1976, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas, United States of America) is a painter whose work is partly influenced by a southern/rural vernacular. Her work has been exhibited internationally including at the Wiregrass Museum, Michael Price Contemporary (Boston) and The Brooks Museum (Memphis). In addition to her work as a painter, Jodi was a founding member of COOP curatorial collective.

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Beauty and wretchedness seem to need each other (Pema Chondron). Much has been written on this as 2020 rages on. I am grateful for my work, my studio and my garden as all have allowed for some balance, now and always.

In January of this year Art Forum covered my show at Browsing Room Gallery (Nashville, seen here in install shots). Emily Weiner (follow her work!) wrote:

“Hays makes compositions that refer to the landscapes of her past and present by joining together disparate American fringe aesthetics. Across all the works on view, the real sorcery is Hays’s tempering sentimentality with a shrewd formalism—a spell for an open-ended dialogue about materials and memory.”

Thank you Southern Heat Exchange for hosting me and my work! Thanks again for the Critic’s Pick Art Forum. I leave you this week with some images of my first fig, Outskirts image, collage works, a studio shot, a Whitney bathroom selfie (February 2020) and new work.

Stay safe out there and see you next week!