Mark Ryden Biography:
Mark Ryden came to preeminence in the 1990’s
during a time when many artists, critics and collectors were
quietly championing a return to the art of painting. With his
masterful technique and disquieting content, Ryden quickly
became one of the leaders of this movement on the West Coast.
Upon first glance Ryden’s work seems to mirror the Surrealists’
fascination with the subconscious and collective memories.
However, Ryden transcends the initial Surrealists’ strategies by
consciously choosing subject matter loaded with cultural
connotation. His dewy vixens, cuddly plush pets, alchemical
symbols, religious emblems, primordial landscapes and slabs of
meat challenge his audience not necessarily with their own
oddity but with the introduction of their soothing cultural
familiarity into unsettling circumstances.
Viewers are initially drawn in by the comforting beauty of
Ryden’s pop-culture references, then challenged by their
circumstances, and finally transported to the artist’s final
intent – a world where creatures speak from a place of childlike
honesty about the state of mankind and our relationships with
ourselves, each other and our past.
Clearly infused with classical references, Ryden’s work is not
only inspired by recent history, but also the works of past
masters. He counts among his influences Bosch, Bruegel and
Ingres with generous nods to Bouguereau and Italian and Spanish
religious painting.
Over the past decade, this marriage of accessibility,
craftsmanship and technique with social relevance, emotional
resonance and cultural reference has catapulted Ryden beyond his
roots and to the attention of museums, critics and serious
collectors. Ryden’s work has been exhibited in museums and
galleries worldwide, including a recent museum retrospective
“Wondertoonel” at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle and Pasadena
Museum of California Art.
Mark Ryden was born in Medford Oregon. He received a BFA in 1987
from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He currently
lives and works in Los Angeles where he paints slowly and
happily amidst his countless collections of trinkets, statues,
skeletons, books, paintings and antique toys. -
Courtesy:
markryden.com |