The works of Ian ‘Hydeon’ Ferguson

In contrast to the current lifestyle powered by all sorts of manufactured desires, Chicago based artist Ian Ferguson, also known as Hydeon, reconnects man with nature and introduces us to a simple existence, reduced to the basic human needs.

You can rarely see the faces of his characters, with distorted features as if they lack any identity, but always wearing their pointy boots and the colourful streaking clothing, engaged in ordinary activities and rather acting based on instinct.

His recent works – the new india ink drawings on paper and paintings on canvas, as well as a shelter structured installation – are currently on display at Maxwell Colette Gallery, part of his solo show – Mass Contemplation.

“Ian Ferguson’s work blends street art, fine art, and graphic design into surreal contemporary Americana, full of metaphor, and designed to intrigue and provoke. Reacting to a world he perceives as being ‘dominated by the exploitation of oversized lifestyles’, Ferguson presents images of a minimized, streamlined existence. It is a wooded world filled with tiny houses, pointy boots, hobo shacks and mountains where life is reduced to the most rudimentary functions.“ (Maxwell Colette Gallery)

Mass Contemplation solo show is up until July 31st, 2014.

According to the artist, the ‘Terra Firma Shelter’ “is meant to embody the ethos of minimal imprint living or the act of simplifying one’s means of basic survival… [The Installation] is to be visually received like a ship in a bottle absorbed by an old west ghost town.”