a long leash
Sweet Pass Sculpture Park in Dallas, TX | 9/9 - 11/18/23
Sweet Pass Sculpture Park presents a long leash, a solo offering by Houston-based artist Ryan Hawk. Utilizing a wide array of materials, such as recycled architectural glass and artist-manufactured bricks, Hawk showcases a command of concepts and techniques from realistic figurative sculpture to collaged found footage. a long leash unfolds across the grounds, tucking into the park's foliage and reimagining the space inside SP2.
Hawk's artistic vision navigates a complex terrain, deftly incorporating art historical references into political discourse. His work delves into a spectrum of themes, from the implications of American cultural hegemony on the trajectory of Modernism to its resonance in the context of 21st-century socio-political protests. a long leash takes direct aim at our understanding of influence within contemporary aesthetic production, challenging viewers to reassess the multifaceted forces shaping the art world today.
This project was supported in part by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.
CLICK HERE FOR THE CATALOGUE [TEXT BY TREY BURNS]
...this wary way of walking, 2020
2160p video projection with sound, custom 9'x16' screen at a 12-degree angle, speakers, double-seated folding chairs, beige carpetTRT of 00:10:40, looped.
...this wary way of walking observes the subcultural practice of mudding through a simultaneous reading of social privilege and a psycho-sexual performance of (self) abjection. By appropriating tropes and methods from cinema, pop culture, and literary theory, the film-installation works to satirize and disorder notions of universal sovereignty and self-determination.
...this wary way of walking was funded in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; additional support was provided by the Core Program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Speacial thanks to Mark Brown.
distorts of trespass
a solo exhibition at Galveston Arts Center on view August 28th, 2021 through November 14th, 2021.
others other, 2019
a solo-exhibition at Gray Contemporary
December 7th, 2019 - Janurary 11th, 2020
Untitled (blue), 2019
1080p video projection with sound, speakers, blue carpet, drywall, steel studs, door strip curtain, neon signage, and various cables and hardware. installation dimensions variable; video TRT of 7 minutes and 30 seconds, looped.The song “Blue” is a ‘heartache ballad’ originally released in 1958 by singer-songwriter Bill Mack. It is a song about a lonely man who is wondering why his lover can't “be blue” or “lonely over him”. Upon its release, the song was relatively unknown until reproduced by pop musician LeAnn Rimes in 1996. My project, “Untitled (blue)”, appropriates this song as both script and score to scrutinize traditional representations of masculinity, race, and power.
