Haroun Hayward: Path Through Trees

This exhibition will mark Haroun Hayward’s (b. 1983) first solo
institutional show. Hayward will present a new body of work,
created in dialogue with artworks in Pallant House Gallery’s
collection by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Paul Nash, Graham
Sutherland and Ceri Richards.
Hayward’s vibrant practice celebrates hybridity – drawing from
art historical references such as postwar British landscape
painting and abstract expressionism alongside the cultural politics
of 90s dance music, rave culture, and graffiti. His practice also
takes inspiration from his mother’s expansive collection of South
Asian and West African textiles, seen in his unique oil stick
technique he developed to emulate embroidery. His paintings
lean towards abstraction, with shapes inspired by the rhythmic
connections between sound, pattern and form, developed
through a distinctive use of oil paint and oil stick.
For Pallant House Gallery, Hayward will create a new series of
paintings inspired by the surrounding Sussex landscape, including
the atmospheric arboretum at West Dean, where he recently
completed a joint residency between West Dean College and the
Gallery.