Dan Hays

Dan Hays (born 1966) is a British artist. He has won the John Moores Painting Prize, holds a PhD in Fine Art from Kingston University, and is an Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins.

His work has been described as a reflection on painting itself, intentionally referencing other artists. Hays characterises his work since the late 1990s as exploring the relationship between the digital world and the "tactile, flawed and time-consuming medium of painting".

Hays won the £20,000 John Moores Painting Prize in 1997 with his work Harmony In Green, a depiction of a hamster cage of exactly his height. Hays has said that the painting is a result of his early obsessions with op art and M. C. Escher. As part of the prize, the piece was purchased by Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery. His work is also held by the Saatchi Collection. He is an Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins.

Hays' work has featured in group shows exhibited at galleries including Turner Contemporary (2016), Camden Arts Centre (2012), and in an Arts Council new purchases tour (1996–1997).

Hays says that since the late 1990s his work has focused on "the relationship between the intangible, encoded and instantaneous realm of digital technology, and the tactile, flawed and time-consuming medium of painting".