Often painting from life, Clarity Haynes’ painting practice centers on the body, queer feminist resistance and the archive. The artist’s non-traditional portraiture frequently explores the torso as a subject; her compositions never rely on the face and are frequently monumental in scale. Haynes’ work focuses on themes of healing, trauma and self-determination.

BIO:

Clarity Haynes was born in McAllen, Texas in 1971. The artist received an MFA in Painting from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. Haynes also received a BA from Temple University and a Certificate in Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, both in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Exhibitions of Haynes’ work have taken place at: the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut; the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Denny Dimin Gallery, presented by New Discretions, in New York City. 

Haynes has received fellowships in painting from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts, both in New York City. The artist has been awarded residencies at MacDowell in Houston, Texas and Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Haynes’ work has been reviewed in: The New York Times, The New Yorker, Artforum and Hyperallergic. The artist’s work has appeared in Art in America, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, Juxtapoz Magazine and Beautiful/Decay Magazine, among others.

Haynes’ work can be found in the permanent collections of: the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York City; the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art in Las Vegas, Nevada; Wilson College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Rena Rowan Breast Center of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and the Brooklyn Museum: Feminist Art Base in Brooklyn, New York.

Haynes lives and works in Brooklyn, New York and Upstate New York.