Clarity Haynes is a queer feminist American artist and writer. She currently lives and works in New York, NY. Haynes is best known for her unconventional painted portraits of torsos, focusing on queer, trans, cis female and nonbinary bodies. She is a former member of the

tART Collective The tART Collective was an intersectional feminist and anti-racist art collective in New York City. Founded in 2004 and was running until January 2020 when the group announced its decision to end tART Collective, the group was the longest-running ...

and the Corpus VI Collective.

Education

Haynes holds a BA in Film from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, a CFA in Painting from the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

, and an MFA in Painting from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

Work

Haynes' work focuses heavily on the human body, she believes the moles, wrinkles, stretch marks, veins and such on our bodies are landmarks of our journey through our lives. Her themes often include aging, illness, and mortality. Her work pushes the social conventions of beauty, femininity, as well as gender and sexuality. Haynes’ most controversial work is The Breast Portrait Project, portraying the nude female torso complete with wrinkles and blemishes, in the opposite style from a glamour portrait. The absence of a face compels the viewer to detect character and personality from these less-familiar indicators. This project initially began with a self portrait of her own torso in order to confront her own image issues. After feeling empowered by the portrait, Haynes began doing more of these portraits for friends and soon for complete strangers at festivals. Clarity explains: “I am interested in the many ways the body changes throughout a lifetime, and in the ways in which we create and change our bodies.” She even kept record and pictures of each sitter in handmade books for the project full of the women she painted to help heal just like she had. This project was popular with the LGBTQ and feminist communities of the 90s.

Exhibitions

Haynes has had solo exhibitions at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

's Kniznick Gallery, Payne Gallery at

Moravian College Moravian University is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The institution traces its history to girls' and boys' schools opened in 1742 by Moravians, descendants of followers of the Bohemian Reformation under John Amos Comenius. ...

, Stout Projects, Bogigian Gallery at Wilson College, and Artists' House Gallery. Her work was included in ''The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today'' at the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

, which traveled to the

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994 in Kansas City, Missouri. With a $5 million annual budget and approximately 75,000 visitors each year, it is Missouri's first and largest contemporary museum. Founders The core of the museum's per ...

, the

Tacoma Art Museum The Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is an art museum in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It focuses primarily on the art and artists from the Pacific Northwest and broader western region of the U.S. Founded in 1935, the museum has strong roots in the ...

, the

Ackland Art Museum The Ackland Art Museum is a museum and academic unit of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was founded through the bequest of William Hayes Ackland (1855–1940) to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is locat ...

and the Art Museum of South Texas. She has participated in many group exhibitions, including at the

Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art (MSM; formerly known as the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History) is a museum located on the main campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), established in 1967. The museum was originally inst ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

's Paul Robeson Galleries, Invisible-Exports Gallery,

Mana Contemporary Mana Contemporary is a cultural center in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States with affiliated centers in Chicago and Miami. History and Founder Opened in May 2011, the center was founded by moving company mogul Moishe Mana. Shai Baitel ...

, and the

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (LLMA), formerly the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, is a visual art museum in SoHo, Lower Manhattan, New York City. It mainly collects, preserves and exhibits visual arts created by LGBTQ artists or ...

Recognition

Haynes has received numerous awards, including a

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing funding to visual artists internationally to further their artistic practices. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expr ...

award, a

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

Fellowship in Painting, a MacDowell Fellowship,
Brooklyn Arts Council

New York City Department of Cultural Affairs The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is the department of the government of New York City dedicated to supporting New York City's cultural life. Among its primary missions is ensuring adequate public funding for non-profit cultu ...

Community Regrant Award,
Leeway Foundation
Window of Opportunity Grant, and a

Barbara Deming Barbara Deming (July 23, 1917 – August 2, 1984) was an American feminist and advocate of nonviolent social change. Personal life Barbara Deming was born in New York City. She attended a ''Friends'' (Quaker) school up through her high sc ...

Memorial Fund Grant.Haynes' work has been discussed in many publications, including the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

Hyperallergic ''Hyperallergic'' is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinki ...

Two Coats of Paint Founded in 2007 by artist Sharon Butler, ''Two Coats of Paint'' is an independent art blogazine about contemporary painting and related subjects. In 2013 and 2016 ''Two Coats of Paint'' was the recipient of Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation Art ...

, Juxtapoz Magazine, Beautiful Decay Magazine, and the

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

, among others. Her work is included in ''The Body: Social and Cultural Dissections'', Routledge, and ''Living Out Loud: An Introduction to LGBTQ History, Society, and Culture'', Routledge. Her work was featured in

Sinister Wisdom ''Sinister Wisdom'' is an American lesbian literary, theory, and art journal published quarterly in Berkeley, California. Started in 1976 by Catherine Nicholson and Harriet Ellenberger (Desmoines) in Charlotte, North Carolina, it is the longest ...

's July 2016 issue, ''Variations''. Haynes' work is in the collections of the

, the

, and the Rena Rowan Breast Cancer Center at the

University of Pennsylvania Hospital The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is the flagship hospital of Penn Medicine and is located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. History The hospital was founded at its current location in 1874 by the Univers ...

. Her work is included in the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

Feminist Art Base The Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art is located on the fourth floor of the Brooklyn Museum, New York City, United States. Since 2007 it has been the home of Judy Chicago's 1979 installation, ''The Dinner Party''. The Center's namesak ...

, a digital archive.

Censorship

Haynes' work is frequently

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

. She has written about her experience with censorship, and chaired a panel on the subject at the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understan ...

Conference in 2019.

Writing

Haynes' writing has appeared in ''

'', ''

,'' ''

The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is an American publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics, based in Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, critics, and ...

'', ARTnews, and other publications.

Selected writings

* Haynes, Clarity. "Going Beneath the Surface: For 50 Years, Harmony Hammond's Art and Activism Has Championed Queer Women" ARTnews, June 2019 *Haynes, Clarity. "I'm a Queer Feminist Artist. Why Are My Paintings Censored on Social Media?" Hyperallergic, March 2018 * Haynes, Clarity. "'You Have to Get Past the Fear': Joan Semmel on Painting her Aged, Nude Body" Hyperallergic, September 2016 *Haynes, Clarity. "How We Got Here: Portrait of the Artist as a Queer Feminist" Hyperallergic, March 2015

References

External links

Official websiteKossak Lecture at Hunter College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haynes, Clarity American contemporary painters American feminist artists Living people 1971 births Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters 20th-century American women painters 21st-century American women painters Art writers American queer artists American art writers American portrait painters Queer feminists Brooklyn College alumni 21st-century American LGBTQ people American lesbian artists