Trajectory

.243 Trajectory_ 24″x48″_ gunpowder, graphite, goldleaf, white acrylic on wood panel.

The title  comes from the gunpowder curve, which is based on the trajectory of a bullet shot from a .243 Remington rifle. (y axis= 1″ = 2″ of drop, x axis= 1″ =10 yards)

This is the first in a series of pieces based on ideas of how one might acheive salvation within a culture of honor. I am currently questioning how male youth finds presidence for behavior based on the examples set by one’s culture. What are the values and how does one acheive them? Once the desired values are acheived is salvation still a viable option?

.270 Trajectory_ 32″x48″_ gunpowder, graphite, goldleaf, white acrylic on wood panel.

video of the .243 burn:

video of the .270 burn:

Jen Korte & the Loss_CD artwork

Jen Korte and the Loss found me online and asked to use some of my art. They used some images for their new CD and for the album release posters. You can also find one of my gunpowder images on their website. (as of December 2009)

The band is based out of the Boulder, Colorado area and have some pretty darn good music. You can hear more on their MySpace page.

Masculinity (?)

If it was all a joke it would be forgivable…

I had the idea for these drawings 4 months ago and finally decided to finish them. The impetus came from an art lecture with my class where they were overly concerned with the piece ‘buckshot‘ that I made in Germany this summer.  I described these as investigations of Cultures of Honor* and discussed the manifestation of masculinity in a phallo-centric culture.

I don’t think they bought it.

*A Culture of Honor is usually found in rural areas where honor is paramount to survival, therefore violence is swift and necessary. See Richard Nesbet and Dov Cohen’s book “Culture of Honor”

Details

Details… a bit of a contradictory misnomer.
Here are 3 drawings I have made since moving to Dallas.

They are based on several influences. I am interested in the formal concerns that create the composition. I find it interesting to play off of ‘minimalism’ or ‘pure composition studies’ which often are blocks of color and/or linework that explore perception and space. By  having the subject (guns) create the structural composition the works can have a more complex dialogue. This allows for reading the pieces through a modernist lens while dually engaging the history of realism and photography in art.

The underlying thought is that the structure of the guns…
1) becomes less recognizable the closer you are to the weapon, which acts as a commentary on familiarity with violence. It also creates an abstract form that allows for multiple interpretations, hence #2…
2) the shapes take on an architectural feel when you crop them and lose the sense of scale by removing the background. This  echoes the idea in anthropology that a culture’s architecture reveals what they value.

 

Mercurial Imagination_ Abilene, TX

Oct 23- Nov 13, 2009

“Mercurial Imagination”
Hardin Simmons University,
Abilene, Texas, 79698

Closing Reception with Artist Talk: Friday, Nov 13, 5pm

HSU’s Ira M. Taylor Memorial Art Gallery presents “Mercurial Imagination,” featuring the work of Ryder Jon Piotrs members Piotr Chizinski, Ryder Richards, Sue Anne Rische and Jonathan Whitfill. The work ranges from altered books and shredded text to gunpowder drawings and cast bomb forms. The work questions social class systems, the intangible form of knowledge, and violence in a modern world. The exhibition will take place from Oct 26-Nov 13, 2009. The gallery will host a closing reception featuring an artist talk and question/answer session on November 13, 5:00-6:30.

Ryder Jon Piotrs (RJP) is comprised of artists who have created an alternative method of engagement with the development of a Nomadic Truck Gallery. The gallery is a converted 24’ Ryder truck complete with white sheetrock panels and track lighting. Since it’s debut over 2 years ago the mobile gallery has prompted several group exhibitions for the RJP members. Most recently the group has shown in Dallas, Abilene, and Marfa. They have also hosted a national juried ceramics exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona.

For more information please call HSU at (325) 670-1000 or visit the website :: http://www.ryderrichards.com/ryderjonpiotrs.html

Duchamp’s Pendulum: Restraint Is My Friend: 698 Miles

"Duchamp's Pendulum: Restraint Is My Friend: 698 miles" 2009, graphite, acrylic, cable, light, wood, 698 miles from Dallas to Austin to Marfa, 58"x48"x12"

This piece was developed after several conversations about the how my art is affected by the traveling across the Southwest with the RJP Nomadic Gallery. The premise is based on the idea that all art is only the remnants of an artist’s action. We only see the marks of the process and can only guess as to what actions took place and in what order. In the last 60 years there have been several artists experiment with action based art works.

The pendulum concept came from reading a Umberto Ecco’s ”Foucault’s Pendulum.” The first chapter discusses the fixed point from all action draws it’s patterns and behaviors. The fixed point, naturally, becomes sacred and the pattern of motion becomes a reflection of the larger forces of the cosmos.

I set up restraints (side walls) on the piece so that it would be limited in range. This development came from a quote attributed to Marcel Duchamp: “Creativity is born of restraint.” I could not philosophically agree that the piece should be free to swing anywhere as it does not seem to reflect human nature, destiny, or the principles of travel in the nomadic gallery.

No. 3: What You Do After No. 2_ Marfa, TX

No. 3: What you do after No.2
Opening Reception: 6-10 PM Saturday, October 10th, 2009
Waypoint Gallery, Marfa, Texas

No. 2: At Your Doorstep _ Installation image (2008)

The Ryder Jon Piotrs Nomadic Gallery presents “No.3: What you do after No. 2“, an exhibit of contemporary Texas artists held in conjunction with the Waypoint Gallery in Marfa, Texas. The group show will feature new pieces questioning and commenting on the nature of a nomadic gallery, societal perceptions and personal identity.  The artists work in a range of media including steel, ceramics, installation and painting.  The nomadic gallery event will coincide with the Chinanti Open House weekend, October 9th and 10th, 2008.  Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, October 10th, 2008. During the opening reception the Thrift Store Cowboys, Tyler T. and Los SOBs will provide music.  This event is free and open to the public.

“No.3: What you do after No. 2” will feature work by artists Piotr Chizinski, Mark Collup, B.C. Gilbert, Nathan Green, Anna Krachey, Andrea Moon, Cat Prose, Ryder Richards, Sue Anne Rische, Brian Wheeler, Jeffery Wheeler, Jonathan Whitfill and David Willburn.  With installation work and outdoor pieces by Emily Bales, Shreepad Joglekar, Chad Plunkett, Nola Richards, Charlie Scala, Ian F. Thomas and Christopher Walnoha. Each artist has developed a method of assessing and refining their work that not only confronts, but also speaks of aesthetics and unique presentation. Several of the artists display a tongue in cheek humor while commenting on grave issues that face our world, while others focus their energy on process and engage the complexities of material and mind.

Ryder Jon Piotrs (RJP) is a collaborative art group celebrating our third year of exhibits by returning to Marfa, the site of our first nomadic exhibition. The gallery is comprised of a 24 foot Ryder moving truck converted into a sophisticated gallery space complete with track lighting. The Waypoint Gallery generously offered space to the RJP Nomadic Gallery for this year’s exhibition. Waypoint Gallery is located at 208 South Summer Street, Marfa, Texas.

For more information please call Ryder Richards at 806.790.5508 or go to http://ryderjonpiotrs.wordpress.com/

No. 2: At Your Doorstep _ Installation image (2008)

Jon Whitfill_Slice

Ryder Richards_Mossberg 30″x22″, graphite on paper

Sue Anne Rische_ Sacred -10×10x14_repurposed text, mixed media

Culture Laboratory: So say we all, sort of…

Culture Laboratory is a collective group of ten artists who have a similar goal: to exhibit art work and remain in dialogue with other artists. We hail from all parts of the United States, but a strong Texas background permeates the collective. The artist members talk together every two weeks in an on-line chat room format.  As we converse we develop more ideas about how the group should evolve and function in the future. At times the Culture Lab can resemble a chaotic social experiment.

Our first exhibition “Culture Lab:: So Say We All, Sort Of…” was at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. A Culture Lab member, JD Durham, coordinated and curated the exhibition. On Friday, July 31st 2009 we have the Closing Reception at 5PM and the Gallery Talk at 3PM.

(Artists: Lauren Boldon, Piotr Chizinski, Loren Erdrich, JD Durham, Shreepad Joglekar, Ryder Richards, Ian F Thomas, Dryden Wells & Jonathan Whitfill)
http://www.culturelaboratory.org/
(website is still under construction, but some images are posted.)

Germany_Summer Residency_2009

I have been in Germany for 4 weeks.
In this time I have traveled around to a few villages and festivals and spent some time making art. I have also visited a few museums and cathedrals as all good tourists must do.

I am apart of a group show here in Tangermunde later this summer. (It is located in an old church that is now a museum.) I also have slated an exhibition for a Museum in Salzwedel in 2011. The Salzwedel Monkskirche Museum is another church with an intricate hanging system of wires. (see below)

Salzwedel Monkskirche Museum

The piece seen below was developed in Germany to comment on the serious issue of finding masculinity through tools of violence. I find the humor in the piece creates an easy entry point from which to discuss of the subject. The concept came about when the residency director loaned me his grandfather’s old shotgun, now a non-functional relic.
I asked friends on Facebook to help me title the piece, hence the working title : “Point and Shoot/ Two Pump Chump/ Perception Meets Reality {up and down}/ Get Glad and Sad in the Same Pants”

Point and Shoot / Two Pump Chump / Get glad and sad in the same pants

Point and Shoot / Two Pump Chump / Get glad and sad in the same pants

Salzwedel Monkskirche Museum

Point and shoot :: Two pump chump

Immpossibility of Defeat/ Reversal of Fortune: Shark 1

Impossibility of Defeat // Reversal of Fortune: Shark 2

Impossibility of Defeat / Reversal of Fortune: A ram vs. Abram

Immpossibility of Defeat / Reversal of Fortune: Birds

Immpossibility of Defeat : Bucks

gottenforshtig: St. Assault

Gottenforshtig: St. 45

Gottenfurshtig_St. A-Bomb

Buckshot. 30×44_graphte and gold paint on paper

The Ram: 30×44_graphite and gold paint on paper

Birds

Reversal-blast

Reversal of Fortune: Indian/ Birds of a Feather

Bathroom grafiti-2

Grafiti in bathroom-1

Tattooed Venus

The largest pieces are about 60″ x 88″ wide. They are all made with some graphite and some lamp black pigment on paper. the saints are about 22″x15″ with some acrylic red and gold paint.

It took me 2 days to track down some wood. It comes in huge ruff planks that need a lot of attention. I cleaned up the wood to make a structure for “Point and Shoot/Two Pump Chump/ Perception {up and down}”.
(The difficulty in cleaning these up is really only in the time spent and in the quality of tools one has access to.)

Your Word is Your Bond

I leave for Germany tomorrow. I finished this piece,”Your Word is Your Bond,” last night.

"Your Word is Your Bond" 22x60x15, gunpowder and goldleaf on paper, wood structure

There is a flock of Gold Leaf birds flying through the arm, but it is very difficult to see them due to the discoloration that occurred during burning.

Your Word is Your Bond_Detail

This piece had to be recreated after a bit of a mishap when I switched gun powders. I had to switch after running out of Winchester 748, which was a medium/low burn rate with a low burn temperature. (It is perfect for this kind of work, but hard to find and it takes months if you order it due to governmental restrictions.) I tried to use a Magnum powder… bad idea.

Here is the video of the mishap. it is kind of funny now, but it nearly torched my camera at the time.