Midway Contemporary Art - The Hill Upstairs, Jay Heikes

The Hill Upstairs by Jay Heikes

At The Midway Contemporary Art’s The Secret Life of Objects exhibit I was most impressed with and interested by a work by Jay Heikes called The Hill Upstairs. It was made using beet juice and coffee on ceiling tiles.

As I walked into the exhibit I didn’t even notice this work, it blended into the atmosphere so well. Also, I had no reasons to look up at the ceiling where it was installed. I looked at many works of art in the exhibit. After I looked at all I thought was there my attention was directed to a piece of paper given to us by the curator earlier. The sheet had names of all of the art works and their locations in the building. I noticed that there were some labeled as being in the Gallery Entrance where I hadn’t noticed any earlier so I searched them out. I was surprised when I looked above the front desk and saw a stained ceiling. This was actually The Hill Upstairs by Jay Heikes. It looked similar to a water stain I had seen in the ceiling of my old house. I remember that stain as being an embarrassment to my family. They did not want company to see the water damage. They thought it made the house look trashy. This work was different than that water stain, it was made purposefully by an artist. Closer inspection revealed the craft and multiple colors in the work: pinks, browns, reds, and greens. It is a beautiful work. It is simple yet stunning. It hadn’t occurred to me that a stained ceiling could be art. As I looked at it I could understand where the title came from. The stain looked similar to grassy green hills in the distance. It made me want to find out all I can about the artist.

A woman working at Midway Contemporary Art told me a little about the artwork and artist, Jay Heikes. At first I thought that the work, which is done on ceiling tiles, was a part of the building. It turns out the piece was specially installed as part of the exhibit. I was told that after the exhibit it is likely that all of the pieces of the work will be taken down and disposed of. I found out that Heikes made the work by laying all of the ceiling tiles out on the floor and staining them then later installing them in the gallery entrance over the front desk. The piece fit in so well with the décor of the gallery that I didn’t even notice that it wasn’t a part of the actual ceiling of the gallery, but that it hung just below it.

After seeing The Hill Upstairs I watched one of Heikes’s videos called So There’s This Pirate… (http://www.marianneboeskygallery.com/artists/jay-heikes/video/). It was a video of him with his hair tucked into his glasses standing in front of a striped curtain telling a story. The story is about a pirate and his rude parrot that is constantly insulting him. I’m not sure if it was his intention, but I found the whole thing to be hilarious, but it interested me. I found myself watching it multiple times and trying to explain it to friends and family later in the day. I think it might be one of those things you have to see to understand, it was just so weird I couldn't stop replaying it in my head.

I also did some research on Jay Heikes’s background. I found out many interesting things. He lives and works in Minneapolis. One online article stated that, “Jay Heikes’ practice explores the role of the artist, seen as a kind of entertainer. Through his props, sculptures, drawings, static ‘TV screen’ paintings, he continuously re-tells a story or a joke, as in a theater of absurdity, where stasis and repetition create an existential dilemma” (http://www.federicaschiavo.com/artists/jay-heikes). Of the work I have seen by him I found this statement to be extremely true. It seems like all of his works are a private joke to himself about the absurdity of humanity. I also found some interesting quotes from Heikes himself that helped me to learn more about him as a person. He has said, “While growing up in New Jersey I found it impossible to believe that that was the way the world really was. With its shopping malls, massive amounts of pop culture and troubling friends, I chose to seek out other places while still being haunted by the nostalgia of a state so eschew” (http://www.bushfellows.org/fellows/show/5420). I found Jay Heikes to be very interesting. I am glad that I went on the search for the artwork in the gallery entrance and noticed his fantastic yet simple artwork, The Hill Upstairs.