Ivy Haldeman

Ivy Haldeman is renowned for her paintings that feature vacant business suits and portraits of alluring, anthropomorphic hot dogs. Simultaneously absurd and strangely familiar, they follow the Pop art tradition, echoing artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg.

Biography of Ivy Haldeman

Ivy Haldeman (born in 1985 in Aurora, Colorado) currently resides and practices her art in New York. She obtained her BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 2008.

Haldeman artistic journey has garnered extensive attention and reviews from notable publications such as Artforum, Artnet News, The Brooklyn Rail, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Times T Style Magazine, Observer, Vice Magazine China, and W Magazine. Notably, her pieces are housed in the collections of the Dallas Museum of Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami.

Ivy Haldeman had numerous solo presentations, including "Twice" at Downs & Ross in New York in 2021, "Hello, the Future Is Certain" at François Ghebaly Gallery in Los Angeles in 2020, and "(Hesitate)" at Capsule in Shanghai in 2019. She also participated in various group exhibitions, including "When Above" at Downs & Ross in New York in 2020, "A Love Letter to a Nightmare" at Petzel Gallery in New York in 2020, and "Personal Private Public" at Hauser & Wirth in New York in 2019, among others.

Ivy Haldeman's Art Style

Inspired by various art forms, including Greek vase drawings, Roman colossal sculpture, Ukiyo-e prints, and portraits of women during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Haldeman's minimalist yet witty paintings both expand the significance of standardized industrial products and narrate contemporary mythologies. Everyday commodities are metamorphosed into carriers of metaphor and allegory, while ordinary objects assume sensuality and oddity. Through her art, Haldeman forges new symbols that are simultaneously universal, hybrid, and personal. Her work magnifies the social attributes of everyday objects by reinterpreting the social dynamics of their production and reproduction.

Haldeman's use of a muted color palette and bold outlines evokes the aesthetics found in mid-century graphic advertising. Her artistic lines draw inspiration from Japanese prints, notably those by the 18th-century artist Kitagawa Utamaro.

In her most known works, the hot dogs assume a variety of leisurely postures: lounging on soft buns, daydreaming, engrossed in reading, stretching, and even talking via a banana phone. These hot dogs exude a distinctly feminine essence, embodying the prescribed body language associated with a femme fatale – fluttering eyelashes and sultry hip movements.

In contrast, Haldeman's depictions of power suits exist in pairs. They are empty but appear more dynamic and active as if conferring on private matters. The scale of her paintings is monumental, almost reaching the dimensions of state portraits or grand landscapes. While the premise might initially strike one as ludicrous, the artworks themselves are remarkably thoughtful and impeccably executed. Haldeman's paintings capture how everyday imagery shapes our self-perception and influences our interactions with the world.