A multi-media artist based in Dallas, Clayton Hurt is mostly known for his figurative works—often depicting the mundane daily life of a dog—which navigate a fine line between struggle and humor. His father a master electrician and his mother an artist, Hurt grew up around construction sites and surrounded by art and the Dallas-Fort Worth arts community. His whimsical sculpture, “Apprehensive Dog”—made of welded steel, burlap, cloth, foam, tar, wax, resin and paint—depicts a mysterious and expressive canine with a story that is left to the viewer’s imagination. Its precarious posture suggests it is avoiding or contemplating something below, and its shiny chrome eyes reflect the world around it.

Hurt earned a BFA Sculpture from University of North Texas, Denton, and an MFA Sculpture from Texas Christian University, Fort Worth. His works have been shown, in part, at Fort Worth Contemporary, Texas Christian University, Arts Fort Worth, Plush Gallery, Dallas, Ann Dean Fine Arts Building, Kilgore College, Redbud Arts Center, Houston, Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Artspace 111, Fort Worth, and 500X Gallery, Dallas, and he was featured as one of Glasstire’s esteemed Top 5 in 2021.