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David RYAN - LAS-CDG
Featured works
Press release
David RYAN LAS-CDG September, 2 – October 21 2023
Jean-Luc and Takako Richard present the sixth solo exhibition by artist David Ryan at Galerie Richard. A leading Las Vegas artist and former student of renowned art critic Dave Hickey, David Ryan made an early name for himself with his sophisticated bas-relief paintings featuring dynamic elliptical compositions. His new paintings, will be assembled at the Paris gallery by the artist, are mostly medium-sized and open up the possibility of a humoristic reading of rounded human silhouettes of cartoon characters.
Ryan observes the contours of surfaces, and more precisely the links and gaps between tightly fitted surfaces, like a three-dimensional puzzle. He begins by drawing directly with a computer mouse, then traces the junction lines, which he then manipulates to alter the organization of the surfaces. He then transcribes them into meticulous laser cut-outs of several sheets of medium, which are superimposed irregularly.
Ryan’s work is at once that of a painter, sculptor and architect. Visual effects are created by the interplay of superimposed curves, by what is shown and what remains hidden, and by the interplay of light, shadow and color created by the volume of the work.
David Ryan’s iconic bas-reliefs, composed of superimposed layers of colored surfaces with rounded contours, are visually identifiable creations.
David Ryan has constantly expanded the visual territory of his painting-sculptures. He has also created works with different dynamics, such as floral aesthetics, or those with the calligraphic aesthetic of broad brushstrokes.
For the recent exhibition entitled Dify Diaspora, in memory of Dave Hickey at the Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery within the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, he showed for the first time a rectangular work, close to a square. This was due to a provocative suggestion by David Hickey, whose challenge he took up in tribute to him. One wonders whether this exercise in confinement, which was difficult for him at the outset, is not now the result of its opposite: an even clearer liberation from the limits of the frame and even the subject.
While many artists repeat their visual vocabulary once they’ve developed it and the public recognizes it, David Ryan’s creativity and adventurous spirit are to be applauded, as he proposes works that are different in many respects and yet can only be identified as his own.
David Ryan, born in 1971 in Houston (TX) lives and works in Las Vegas. He receivedBFA at Texas University in Austin and MFA at Nevada University in La Vegas. His works are in the collections of Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Art Museum of Palm Spring, Las Vegas Museum, Weissman Foundation in Los Angeles, Centre Borusan for Arts and the Culturs in Istambul.