Luke Haynes creates scenes, images, portraits and environments out of fabric and thread. Drawing from a tradition of meditative American portraiture, with influences ranging from Chuck Close to Kehinde Wiley, Haynes depicts the images with which we find comfort, constructed within the traditional quilting process, layering found cloth pieces, inscribed by thread. With roots in the American South, and an architectural education at Cooper Union, his work lies within the juncture between form and function, art and craft, quilt tradition and contemporary design culture.

Quilting for 10 years, Haynes has completed well over 100 quilts, the largest to date reached 9x17 feet. His work has been showcased in exhibitions and installations in 14 states and 3 different countries. Haynes gives new life to the tactile American experience. His work is permanently on view at the Newark Museum, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Private collection of the Norton Family, and in the lobby of Duke University to name a few. He is coming up on his 40th exhibition and this will be the 10th just featuring his work.

Haynes was born in Colorado, but grew up primarily in the American South, which was the generative source of his craft and culture. He has lived in 15 States and attended 14 schools treating a foundation of knowledge and human interactions that is ripe within his work. He currently splits his time between New York and Seattle.

Luke Haynes states, “The hundredth quilt was a huge marker for me in my career. I use it as the line in the sand at which point I gained mastery of my craft. The point of the show is a celebration of the art and object of quilts as well as of me making it in the world. I will curate the show from my works throughout the years and fresh off the machine.

In an art form known for its History and linage the marking of time passing is an important datum and this show is to celebrate that in my works. I will fill the walls with works that show what can be made of quilts and how the method can push the viewer to re-understand what an object of use can become through the lens of a Designer.

The subjects range from political to personal always through the filter of being made of fabric and through Luke’s interpretation. Some pieces are parts of huge exhibitions and some are single investigations into method or image or iconography. According to Luke, all the pieces in this show are my quilt works and illustrate the method to my ownership of this media and my homage to the context in which I make images and objects.

THE AMERICAN CONTEXT: A NEW LOOK AT QUILTS ✦ LUKE HAYNES

@ the ELI ALEXANDER GALLERY 15 East 27th Street Opening Friday, April 13th, 2012, 6 to 9 pm

show runs through April 27th, 2012

For More Information: www.lukehaynes.com