ROUGHED IN work by Ryan Syrell at the John Fonda Gallery at Theatre Project
On view through November 2, 2014
Photos from the Reception Friday, October 17 by Ben Levy
ROUGHED IN brings together a number of parallel, and often overlapping, projects; a series of large cartoon landscapes, executed on framed drywall panels, a selection of landscapes drawn from memory with eyes closed, a suite of ten works on paper, and a painted arrangement of salvaged wood. Each of these projects comes with it’s own structures and limitations, and by adhering to these, a wealth of correspondences and disparities may be found between the works.
Elements are quoted, paraphrased and repainted between works, with no clear indication as to which object may be the primary source. In this way, the same image, in different formats may be filled or emptied of its content; what is a formal and materially focused object in one setting can become an exercise in visual recollection, or a commentary on the proliferation of imagery in another.
ROUGHED IN is a document of strategies for moving through the visual world. Elements are re-ordered, and and color and form are intensified to produce heightened responses. The Strata compositions are often transcriptions, from memory, of constellations of objects seen around Baltimore: dumpsters, painted walls, signage, building construction or demolition. Individual elements are transfigured, leaving only an echo of the initial formal structure. ROUGHED IN inquires into the malleability of image making and content.
Ryan Syrell (b. 1984, Oswego, NY) is a painter whose work focuses on the interrelationship between cartooning, abstraction, perception and the recollection of visual data. He received his BFA from SUNY Purchase and has exhibited and performed internationally. Ryan’s work has recently been included in Baltimore Contemporary Cross-Section (at the Silvermine Arts Center in Connecticut) and the WPA’s Select 2014 (at Artisphere, in Arlington, VA). In early 2014 he had a solo show, “Addenda: Rosy-fingered Dawn at Louse Point”, at Guest Spot at the ReInstitute in Baltimore. Catalogs featuring Ryan’s essays are in the collections of the LACMA library, the International Center for Photography library and the Indie Photobook Library. Ryan received a 2014 Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Art Council for his work in sculpture. Ryan lives and works in Baltimore, MD. More info at http://ryansyrell.com.
