Cordy Ryman
Encyclopedia
Cordy Ryman an artist based in New York City
. Ryman earned his BFA with Honors in Fine Arts and Art Education from The School of Visual Arts in New York in 1997.
Ryman’s artwork is characterized by recycled wood and metal painted and reconstructed with sculptural elements, mimicking the traditional canvas in their display. The materials Ryman uses include wood, gorilla glue, scrap metals, studio sweepings, acrylic and enamel paints and other found objects. When working with wood, he often keeps the rough jagged edges visible to the eye. This creates a very tactile surface. Ryman alters the surfaces of his artwork to change the appearance but still allows for the character of the materials to be recognized. He sometimes combines mostly mute colors-white, silver, and creamy oranges- with small touches of bright hues on the edges and seams of his work. The end result is a fluorescent glow that is reflected onto the gallery spaces and the artwork itself.
His works range from small to large and often interact with the spaces in which they are presented. When Ryman works on a smaller scale his paintings tend to be saturated with paint transforming the nature of the scrap materials he works with. The undulating surfaces of these works push the boundary between sculpture and painting.
When Ryman creates work on a larger scale the pieces interact with unique properties of the installation space. Such pieces are found in the corners of spaces or rising and falling from the walls. In Ryman’s 2010 solo exhibition at DCKT Contemporary he showed the work Red Brick which consisted of a series of cut and painted wooden “bricks” stacked upon one another in varying shades of red and pink. In this work Ryman questions geometry, order, and the nature of painting itself.
New York City
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. Ryman earned his BFA with Honors in Fine Arts and Art Education from The School of Visual Arts in New York in 1997.
Works
Ryman’s early works were emotion based figurative sculptures but within his first year at art school he began to experiment with abstract representations. During his second year at The School of Visual Arts he was working on small scale collages. This is where Ryman began to develop his current style.Ryman’s artwork is characterized by recycled wood and metal painted and reconstructed with sculptural elements, mimicking the traditional canvas in their display. The materials Ryman uses include wood, gorilla glue, scrap metals, studio sweepings, acrylic and enamel paints and other found objects. When working with wood, he often keeps the rough jagged edges visible to the eye. This creates a very tactile surface. Ryman alters the surfaces of his artwork to change the appearance but still allows for the character of the materials to be recognized. He sometimes combines mostly mute colors-white, silver, and creamy oranges- with small touches of bright hues on the edges and seams of his work. The end result is a fluorescent glow that is reflected onto the gallery spaces and the artwork itself.
His works range from small to large and often interact with the spaces in which they are presented. When Ryman works on a smaller scale his paintings tend to be saturated with paint transforming the nature of the scrap materials he works with. The undulating surfaces of these works push the boundary between sculpture and painting.
When Ryman creates work on a larger scale the pieces interact with unique properties of the installation space. Such pieces are found in the corners of spaces or rising and falling from the walls. In Ryman’s 2010 solo exhibition at DCKT Contemporary he showed the work Red Brick which consisted of a series of cut and painted wooden “bricks” stacked upon one another in varying shades of red and pink. In this work Ryman questions geometry, order, and the nature of painting itself.
Artist Statement
‘I work in two basic modes - one when I’m simply working in the studio without a specific process in mind. The process dictates its own direction and evolution. My goal is to create work that has its own life. Sometimes I refer back to other pieces or ideas and sometimes I refer to the materiality of the ingredients I use.
The second mode in which I work is more architectural and sometimes site specific in nature. When working in this way, I am either working with a specific space (specific homes or gallery etc) in mind or a more generic space like the corner of a room. I often use photos and measurements of a space as a reference. I respond to the unique aspects of a space (in 3d) much as I would respond to unique elements on a 2d plane when painting…The space itself becomes like the canvas – and I go with what is there and make something happen.
For me art is a living thing and almost grows like weeds to occupy whatever space is at hand (using weeds in the most positive sense mind you). I don’t see abstraction as rigid but rather as organic and free flowing. I see my work as having an expressive, playful and self referential aspect to it. I’m aware that I am playing with and manipulating an inherited language and in some sense, defining myself in relation to it.’
Permanent Collections
- Microsoft Art Collection, Redmond, WA
- Museum of Contemporary Art, North MiamiMuseum of Contemporary Art, North MiamiThe Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum located in the heart of downtown North Miami, Florida. The structure was designed by the internationally acclaimed architecture firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, New York, which worked in conjunction with the Miami firm of Gelabert-Navia to...
, FL - Raussmuller Collection, Basel, Switzerland
- Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL
- The Speyer Family Collection, New York, NY
- Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection, Seattle, WA
Awards
- 2006 Helen Foster Barnett Prize, National Academy Museum, New York, NY
- 1997 Rhodes Family Award for Excellence, School of Visual ArtsSchool of Visual ArtsThe School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
, New York, NY
Solo Exhibitions
- Connor Contemporary, Washington, DC
- DCKT ContemporaryDCKT ContemporaryFounded in 2002, by Dennis Christie and Ken Tyburski, DCKT Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery based in New York's Lower East Side. The gallery represents emerging and established contemporary artists. Its programming ranges from, but is not limited to, painting and sculpture to video art...
, New York, NY - Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin TX
- Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Mark Moore Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
Group Exhibitions
- Aberrant Abstraction: Keltie Ferris, Chris Martin, Cordy Ryman, Agathe Snow, Nerman Museum of Contemporary ArtNerman Museum of Contemporary ArtThe Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art is an art museum that is located on the campus and is a department of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. The museum is named for donors and local art collectors Jerry and Margaret Nerman. It opened in October 2007, succeeding the...
, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS - Nicole Klagsburn Gallery, New York, NY
- One More, Esbjerg Museum of Modern Art, Esbjerg, Denmark
- Lesley Heller Gallery, New York, NY
- American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
- National Academy Museum and School of the Arts, New York, NY
- Greater New York 2005, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art CenterP.S. 1 Contemporary Art CenterMoMA PS1 is one of the largest and oldest institutions in the United States dedicated solely to contemporary art. It is located in the Long Island City neighborhood of New York City...
, Long Island City, NY
External links
- Cordy Ryman interviewed by Phong Bui, Dec. 2008
- Cordy Ryman reviewed @ Brooklyn Rail
- Cordy Ryman reviewed by Art in America
- http://www.markmooregallery.com/artists/cordy-ryman/