PROJECT DESCRIPTION

“Hugh Hayden: American Vernacular” is the first monograph on American artist Hugh Hayden, whose sculptures engage with class, race, cultural assimilation, the construction of nature, and the “American Dream.”

Hayden is best known for creating hand-hewn wooden picnic tables, fences, and chairs from which countless tree branches seem to grow. His artworks probe at the inequities of home and land ownership across race and class, speaking to the enduring legacies of enslavement that pervade American culture. Hayden’s work expresses American myths and values around achievement, athletics, faith, education, cuisine, and other dimensions of American life—as Hayden describes, “The American Dream is a dream that is seductive, but difficult to inhabit.”

The book design is a metaphor for Hugh’s own body, disguised or hidden inside of a tree. The cover is a tree trunk where Hugh has carved his name in the bark. The inside is soft, uncoated, woody paper with all images fitted to margins, allowing the book edges to feel like a clean, freshly cut timber slab. Referencing Hugh’s fascination with American standard lumber dimensions, the book is perfectly 9x12 inches, and the colophon is a 12-inch imperial ruler. The book is set in default 12pt Arial, the artist's system font of choice since his adolescence in Dallas, Texas.

Several projects have double foldouts that feel like surprise peaks inside of artworks, or openings into Hugh’s inner, expanded, bodily world.

Notably, all ‘black’ ink throughout the book has been substituted with an artist-selected Pantone that matches Hugh’s belly.

BOOK INFORMATION

Trim Size: 9 x 12 in.

Number of Pages: 250

Binding Method: Otabind

Paper: Fedrigoni Arena

Typefaces: Arial

CREDIT INFORMATION

Creative Director:

Art Director:

Book Designer: Laura Coombs

Jacket/Cover Designer: Laura Coombs

Illustrator:

Photographer:

Picture Editor:

Production Director:

Production Coordinator:

Production Artist:

Other Credits: Managing Editor: Sarah Handelman

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