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August 31, 2005

Ryan McGinness Kicks Serious Ass

Jamie Gaughran-Perez

Click images to enlarge.

	In July, my daughter and I went to the Contemporary Museum (Bmore) for an exhibit called, “Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture.” We had the place to ourselves and went room to room while M_ sang and danced – her preferred way to take in a show.
I’d seen a number of the involved artists before, but Ryan McGinness was new to me and stopped me dead in my tracks. From the paintings themselves to the mural-ing of the wall behind them, there was no way you could just walk on by.
	The flatness, the mix of representational stencils and Victorian (?) arabesques freed from their typical “border” role, the tangled accumulation of signs and symbols, composition that takes both design and painting. The guy is totally rocking.
The exhibit itself is in parts, and if you haven’t been yet, you sadly missed the section with these paintings. More on what-where-when over at the Contemporary’s site, www.contemporary.org (somebody was on it when they snagged that URL!).
	The exhibit's on to Tampa next – check out Ryan's site, for all his upcoming shows. You’ll also find a portfolio of his work to date – with peeks back in time to see how his stuff evolved to where it is today. And where he is today is a real treat. Make sure to get out and see it sometime.

Posted by Rock Heals at August 31, 2005 07:12 AM