Hugh Hayden's 'Boogey Men' Exhibition at ICA Miami Explores Skin and Symbolism

Hugh Hayden's exhibition 'Boogey Men' at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, features works from 2021 that interrogate themes of skin, materiality, and American identity through sculpture. The centerpiece, 'Boogey Man', is a three-quarter-lifesize steel cop car draped in a bedsheet, merging references to police brutality and the Ku Klux Klan with a cartoonish aesthetic reminiscent of Philip Guston's Klansmen. Its diminutive scale, rounded edges, and mirrored eyes evoke Gerhard Richter's paintings, softening yet underscoring sinister undertones. Other pieces include 'Pride', a car seat reupholstered with zebra pelt as an assisted readymade, and 'High Cotton', an arched fencing section carved from Gabon ebony, echoing Martin Puryear's elegance. A second room contains a grey carpet setting where 'Nude', a genderless, race-less cedar skeletal figure with branching limbs, creates an uneasy repose, invoking Maurice Merleau-Ponty's idea of breaking 'the skin of things'. Hayden's work navigates between mass-produced and handmade objects, using materials as skins that define experiences and objects in America. The exhibition runs until 17 April, emphasizing tension in revelation without disclosing hidden truths.