The Limited, The Infinite...Hayden Kays 'OVERDRAWN' At Exposure London
London artist Hayden Kays is thrilled to announce his first solo exhibition of 2016 ‘OVERDRAWN’ at Exposure London on April 7th.
The show consists of twenty-five crisp and framed uncirculated one dollar bills which Kays has beautifully overlaid with inkjet prints of arresting images, applying his characteristic wit for a wry critique of modern day capitalism with his trademark, on-point sloganeering.
Kays has said that money itself is art, since every note is a drawing and every coin a sculpture.
‘OVERDRAWN’ takes this observation to its logical conclusion by making money the base material for artworks, while at the same time deploying the concept of currency as the subject.
The bespoke dollar bills simultaneously become symbolic of the economic and political power of money and the perfect medium for Kays to make his acute observations on our fragile and yet compulsive relationship with consumerism and mass culture.
In an ironic gesture that is both controversial and funny, Kays has construed the social and political force of art to be so great that it grants him a licence to print money.
Kays’ banknote works bring home the idea that money, at once limited and infinite, fuels and fulfils our insatiable desires. In Kays hands, the most sought after commodity in the world becomes ever more valuable and coveted.
Kays said: “I enjoy the idea of making money both more and less desirable at the same time, removing its inherent value and assigning it a greater one. Overdrawn has gifted me an artistic licence to paint to money.”
Additionally, for one night only at the opening, Kays will be signing and drawing bespoke doodles on any bank notes brought in by those who purchase one of the original exhibition pieces.
Kays has been touted as the YBA’s heir for the street art generation, spearheading the evolution of the movement in the UK today. His hard-hitting messages, which blur the lines between capitalism and culture, human sensibility and the machine age, have caught the eye of patrons and supporters such as contemporary art bad boy Jake Chapman.
‘OVERDRAWN’ will run from 7th to 29th of April.
Exposure London
22-23 Little Portland St
London
W1W 8BU
