Ho qui quasi tutta la bibliografia disponibile su Ridley. Magari stanno lì a copiarsi su google, ma è tutto un: epic, banal, sweet and touching. Non so del resto cosa ci si possa aspettare d'altro a sezionare l'intimità di una persona immagine dopo immagine.
E invece pare che il semplice fatto di raccontare la vita quotidiana con un linguaggio non derivato direttamente da quello dei magazines riesca a provocare scossoni critici. In poche righe trovo riferimenti a Alex Katz, the American Romantic Painters, Fra Angelico, the French New Wave, Wes Anderson (questo proprio si), Edward Gorey e tutto il folk possibile: neo, modern e post.
Ci metto anche la mia. penso a liisa lounila che diceva:" non si riesce mai ad essere lì dove succede qualcosa." Non so, magari basta starsene tranquilli a tirar su qualche patatina fritta.
E dietro al ricorso ad uno stile tutto sommato da settimana enigmistica che elimina i dettagli ambientali non c'è una ambizione classica. E' così che si vedono le persone quando per un momento sono importanti: senza nulla di troppo evidente attorno.
di Luca Diffuse
www.alsoavailable.net
info@alsoavailable.net
Groeflin Maag Galerie is pleased to present the second solo exhibition by New York based artist Ridley Howard.
16 November – 22 December 2007
Opening: Thursday 15 November 2007, 6 – 8 pm
In his second solo show at the gallery Ridley Howard shows six new paintings in which he composes scenes that seem to be taken from Movie stills. The viewer is confronted with careful modeled figures in banal situations. The characters are often seen in subtle interaction; seemingly caught between their own thoughts and those who receive their gaze.
Ridley Howard’s paintings are delicately composed and strike through their precise toning. They are more about abstraction than Howard’s earlier work.. in some obvious formal and compositional play, but also in the way an uncertain psychological space is created: an abstract state of mind or a sense of dislocation. The oversized figures and their sculptural quality absorbe the viewer into the space and makes him part of the narrative.
Ridley Howard’s works have been shown at Zach Feur Gallery in New York, at Solomon Projects in Atlanta, at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta
Ridley Howard was born in Atlanta, GA, USA, and now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA.
Ridley Howard complete biograpy
Groeflin Maag Galerie
lumi’s tatoo, 2007, oil on linen, 66 x 84 in / 168 x 214 cm.
holly, high park, 2007, oil on linen, 66 x 66 in / 168 x 168 cm.
gin and tonic, 2007, oil on linen, 66 x 78 in / 168 x 198 cm.
Orange #1, 2005, oil on linen
Auto Parts, 2006, oil on linen