Cordy Ryman

Cordy Ryman
Born	1971 New York, New York, US
Nationality	American
Field	Sculpture, Painting, Installation art
Training	BFA, School of Visual Arts
Awards	Rhodes Family Award for Excellence, School of Visual Arts, 1997; Helen Foster Barnett Prize, National Academy Museum, 2006.

Cordy Ryman (b.1971, New York City), 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.

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.’^[7]

Permanent Collections

• Microsoft Art Collection, Redmond, WA
• Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, 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 Arts, New York, NY

Solo Exhibitions

• Connor Contemporary, Washington, DC
• DCKT Contemporary, 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 Art, 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 Center, Long Island City, NY

References

1. ^ Ward, Terry (2011). "Interview with Cordy Ryman". The New York Art World. 
2. ^ Longhi, Tomassio (2006). "Cordy Ryman: School Daze at Carol Shen Gallery". The Brooklyn Rail: Critical Perspectives on Arts, Politics and Culture. 
3. ^ Davison, Dave R. (2008). "Ryman brings raw edge to Traver". Tacoma Weekly. 
4. ^ Kangas, Matthew (2003). "Artists continue the Evolution of Abstract Painting". The Seattle Times. 
5. ^ Smith, Roberta (2005). "Art Review: Making an Entrance at Any Age". The New York Times. 
6. ^ Conner, Jill (2010). "Cordy Ryman". Art in America. 
7. ^ http://stalke.dk/stalke_galleri/artist/artistinfo/352/_cordy_ryman

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/

Persondata
Name	Ryman, Cordy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1971
Place of birth	New York, New York, US
Date of death
Place of death