Below, Tim expounds on his Redux! -Adam Farrington

Tim Hailey’s “Redux” at Farrington Smith Gallery

Statement

When is an artwork finished? If it sits around an artist’s studio or house for a few decades, it might be open to reworking or put into a new context. That’s the gist of this show, and most of this work has origins during my time in New Orleans from ’92-2000.

“Cream of Wheat” was originally part of an assemblage. The rest of that piece was traded to Mark Vicknair for legal services, so this canvas is recognizable but extensively reworked and “finished” in Louisville, Kentucky, late Sunday night the week of this show’s opening.

Likewise, the “¡Torcedor!” paintings were components of a larger piece. They have been similarly “resto-modded”.

“6-pack Minotaur with Playful Dead Bird”, “Gold Foil Pinstripes” and “Painter Boy”

are recontextualized from my “Gray Painting” installation in the 1998 New Orleans Triennial. They are otherwise unchanged and now ask simply to be considered as individual paintings.

“If only you’d believe in miracles, so would I: the King Tut color scheme” was barely begun in the process that built up those “Gray Painting” pieces. It was extensively painted to its present shape in 2024.

The “Sommelier du Breeders’ Cup” paintings were stored by Sasha Stolin for a good 20 years or so and have only been recently seen again by my eyes, and are now here for yours as well.

“Kawasaki” is a 2022 painting that uses a signature image (the chopping men) that I developed while at grad school at UNO.

“Michelle” was painted for former New Orleanian and Mermaid Lounge bartender Michelle Mock, who passed away two years ago.

“Lakeside: the Midnight Motion color scheme” was originally painted for a Prospect:1 satellite show. It has been tightened up and better crafted for this show.

“Black Tulips” has no connection to New Orleans and was completed in January of this year.

“Kiss the Cook” was part of an assemblage painted while here in grad school. It was resto-modded in 2020.

“Can’t spell Trump without Rump: my white ass” also has no connection to New Orleans, but is pink and timely. It was made for a “Printers Without Presses” show in Trump’s first term.

“Showermaster 2: pink or brown?” was an immersive, activity-based installation at the Mermaid Lounge in 1999. I’ve put some of these photos online, but this is the first time they’ve been printed. They are a time capsule of New Orleans contemporary culture community of the time and reflect the good feelings of that one night and of the era.

“What’s left of Webelo” are from a 1997 immersive, activity-based installation. Many of the puzzle pieces from that exhibit and “Gray Painting” were destroyed in Katrina.

Art and life go on and remain static only when out of artists’ hands.

Tim Hailey, New Orleans, April 10, 2026