May 9 – June 14, 2008
Opening Reception Friday, May 9th, 6-8pm
For his first solo exhibition in New York, Ryan Johnson presents six large sculptures that explore
the psychological and imaginative narratives built in and around the subject of a Watchman. The
Watchman’s solitary e... Read more
May 9 – June 14, 2008
Opening Reception Friday, May 9th, 6-8pm
For his first solo exhibition in New York, Ryan Johnson presents six large sculptures that explore
the psychological and imaginative narratives built in and around the subject of a Watchman. The
Watchman’s solitary endless night shift erodes the distinction between the real and the imagined
creating a hallucinatory space where functional objects are appendages, racing clocks stare back,
and his own anxieties materialize a self-image that is nightmarishly distorted and disfigured.
The gallery is divided into three distinct spaces. Upon entering, there is a long hallway leading to
a small back room where the Watchman stands. He has become a manifestation of his obsessions,
composed of the objects that make up his existence. Turning from the Watchman, the larger main
room is populated by five monumental empty body-casts made primarily with casting tape. These
abstracted totem-like statues, the scale of which imposes a much larger shared trauma, conflate a
private interiority with the public imaginary; these statues are not just the inner machinations of
the Watchman’s wandering mind. The inclusion of markers attached via small aluminum chains
that are built-in to the sculptures encourage visitors to sign, write, or draw on the casts the same
way one might decorate a friend’s cast who has broken their arm. However, these chained writing
implements bring to mind the chained pens in banks, which allow a certain level of freedom
within a controlled ritualized space. The sculptures are considered complete once the exhibition
is over and the markers are cut from the chains.
Ryan Johnson lives and works in New York. He received an MFA from Columbia University in
2003. Selected exhibitions include Capricci (possibilities of other worlds) at the Casino
Luxembourg-Forum d’Art Contemporain, Luxembourg (2007); 2006 Untitled (For
H.C.Westermann) at the Contemporary Museum Honolulu, Hawaii (2006); Franco Scoffiantino
Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy (solo) (2006); Greater New York, P.S.1, New York (2005).
Guild & Greyshkul is located at 28 Wooster Street, New York, NY, 10013
Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-6pm. For more information, please contact the gallery at
212-625-9224 or visit www.guildgreyshkul.com
