Denzil Hurley
The post-conceptual paintings of Denzil Hurley (b. 1949, d. 2021) mix provisional construction methods rooted in the African diaspora with what he termed a “reductive” approach. Hurley immigrated from Barbados to the United States to study art and received his MFA from the Yale School of Art in 1979.
Hurley’s insatiable impulse to edit and repaint was a hallmark of his studio-centric life. The text-like bands of his “redact” series—accumulations of scraped, reapplied, and wiped-out-again paint—enact the erasure of history, or possibly its reconfiguration. His “sticks” are monochrome paintings attached to broom handles, like wordless protest signs. These series led to his “glyphs”: conjoined rectangular panels, often with their centers removed, which Hurley installed as mismatched grids. The way these works are built, one part touching the next, in harmony and disharmony, imparts a sense of improvisation and openness. Always, Hurley’s paintings are alive with color, bringing light to the artist’s musings on the limits of language.
Artist: Studio
Artworks
Denzil Hurley,
J2#1, Portal,
2015–2017,
87 × 30 × 9 in (220.98 × 76.2 × 22.86 cm)
Oil on canvas and wood element
Denzil Hurley,
Orange Glyph,
2019,
106 × 72 in (269.24 × 182.88 cm)
Oil on canvas, pole
Denzil Hurley,
Variant D,
2005–2006,
Oil on canvas, 76 × 60 in (193.04 × 152.4 cm)
Denzil Hurley,
Glyph C,
2002–2004,
70 ¼ × 50 ¼ in (178.435 × 127.635 cm)
Oil on canvas
Denzil Hurley,
3 Panel Glyph #2,
2012–2014,
60 × 56 in (152.40 × 142.24 cm)
Oil on canvas on panel and sticks
Denzil Hurley,
Glyph Within, Without and About #4,
2016–2018, 108 × 62 ½ in (274.32 × 158.75 cm)
Oil on linen with stick attachment
Denzil Hurley,
Glyph Within, Without and About #5,
2016–2018, 95 × 93 ¼ in (241.30 × 236.86 cm)
Oil on linen
Denzil Hurley,
Glyph Within, Without and About #7,
2016–2018, 88 ⅛ × 85 in (223.84 × 215.90 cm)
Oil on linen
Denzil Hurley,
ZBA2, Blue Glyph,
2016–2017, 102 × 41 ½ in (259.08 × 105.41 cm)
Oil on canvas and stick
Denzil Hurley,
Slat Glyph,
2016,
14 × 21 ½ in (35.56 × 54.61 cm)
Oil on linen
Denzil Hurley,
Yellow Glyph #1,
2012–2013,
22 × 23 in (55.88 × 58.42 cm)
Oil on linen with stick attachment
Denzil Hurley,
ZB3, Stacked Glyph,
2014–2016,
100 × 18 in (254 × 45.72 cm)
Oil on canvas and stick
Denzil Hurley,
Strip Glyph #1,
2019,
28 ½ × 19 ½ × 1 ½ in (72.39 × 49.53 × 3.81 cm)
Oil on linen
Denzil Hurley,
Glyph Strips #2,
2019,
28 × 19 ¾ × 1 ¾ in (71.12 × 50.165 × 4.445 cm)
Oil on linen
Denzil Hurley,
Equal Areas, Glyph Within, Without and About,
2016–2018, 51 ¾ × 74 ¼ in (131.45 × 188.60 cm)
Oil on linen with aluminum plate
Denzil Hurley,
Glyph Within, Without and About #2,
2016–2018,
Oil on linen with stick attachment
Denzil Hurley,
Coupled Glyph #A2,
2014–16,
61 ¼ × 42 ¼ in (155.575 × 107.315 cm)
Oil on canvas on panel and sticks
Installation Views
Installation view "Denzil Hurley: In Praise of Use" ICA Miami, 2024
Installation view, Departures and Arrivals: Artists in Abstraction, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA, 2019
Installation view, Departures and Arrivals: Artists in Abstraction, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA, 2019
Exhibitions
Publications
Denzil Hurley, 2023
Denzil Hurley, 2023
Press
Noah Simblist, "Beyond the Frame: Abstraction Reconstructed at CANADA, New York", February 14, 2025
Saam Niami "Event Horizon." Family Style February 6, 2025
Valentina Di Liscia "15 Art Shows to See in New York This July." Hyperallergic July 12, 2023
Blake Gopnik "What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in July." The New York Times July 5, 2023
Robert Storr "Denzil Hurley (1949–2021)." Artforum August 4, 2021
Emilia Dubicki "Spring 2019 Highlights." The Woven Tale Press June 18, 2019
Eric Lin "Hey you! See this show!." Yale Daily News April 15, 2016
Marc Trujillo "The Influence of Andrew Forge." The Huffington Post December 5, 2014
Erin Langner "‘Black & White & Red All Over’: Denzil Hurley & Robert Storr." New American Paintings April 27, 2012
Danilla Rumold "Economy of Means: Robert Storr & Denzil Hurley." Contemplative Process April 26, 2012
Robert Ayers "A Rare Chance: Robert Storr Paintings at Seattle’s Francine Seders Gallery." Seattle Times April 13, 2012
Matthew Kangas "Creating, and enjoying, art for the sake of art." The Seattle Times February 17, 2006
Regina Hackett "Painter Denzil Hurley's layers of labor are a pleasure for the viewer." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer February 9, 2006
"Selections from the Burnett Miller Collection." Artdaily February 22, 2005
"The Art of Reduction: Denzil Hurley Interview." McClain Johnson October 26, 2004
Regina Hackett "'Big and Small' paints a wide swath of expressive abstraction." Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 5, 2004
Regina Hackett "SAM survey brings Minimalism into the present." Seattle Post-Intelligencer August 3, 2003
Marilu Knode "The Seattle Scene." Artnet 1997
Colin Gardner "Wilshire Center." Los Angeles Times July 18, 1986
CV
Denzil Hurley
b. 1949, Saint Michael, Barbados
d. 2021, Seattle, WA
Education
1979
MFA, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT
1975
BFA, Portland Museum Art School, Portland, OR
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
In Praise of Use, Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
2023
Denzil Hurley: To be pained is to have lived through feeling, curated by Gervais Marsh, CANADA, New York, NY
2018
Within, Without and About, CANADA, New York, NY
2017
Denzil Hurley: Disclosures, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
2016
Take a stick to it, put it on a line, CANADA, New York, NY
2007
Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
2006
Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, WA
2004
Denzil Hurley New Abstract Paintings, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
2000
James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA
1988
Burnett Miller Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1986
Burnett Miller Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1985
Mona Berman Gallery, New Haven, CT
Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, NY
1980
Louis B. Comfort Gallery, Haverford College, PA
1977
Marylhurst College, Portland, OR
1976
The Purple Dagger Gallery, Portland, OR