When you’ve known someone for SO long, it’s hard to know where to start. At the beginning? In the middle? How about last week?
My old pal artist Mary Hayslip just opened her exhibit at the Devin Borden gallery in Houston that was a big old love fest. A great excuse to see the legendary Hayslip surrounded by her work and friends. I missed it, but it’s evidenced in photos.
With Mary on the roof of my building at 131 Avenue B, circa 1983 (Photo, Kevin Hatt)
As the headline says, her work defies categories and it IS hard to say what genre Mary works in. We had a dual show in Houston a few years ago called VooDoo Pop (Thirty years of Friendship & Art) and that splits the difference between us nicely. Before this show was being installed Mary and I discussed some titles and I threw out some, but nothing really stuck. Others weighed in too without success, so, as they say, she just let the work speak for itself.
I CAN tell you about the artist though. Of anyone I’ve ever known, Mary was born an artist. She turns everything into her art; her personal style, her interiors, even her home landscape, where she’s trained the shubbery to spell out her name. A lot of her work over the years has found it’s way into my home (mostly through her generosity) and I’m getting one of those fab eyes you see floating above the gallery installation, below.
Maybe you know someone like Mary? (Maybe not.) But if you do, support their work and tell them how much you appreciate and admire what they do. That’s what I’m trying to do here.
