Carin Rutherford Creel
November 19, 2010
MARK RYDEN PHOTO FROM MARKRYDEN.COM
“Mark Ryden was born on January 20, 1963 in Medford, Oregon, but grew up in Southern California. He received a B.F.A. in 1987 from Art Center in Pasadena, California. He currently resides in Sierra Madre, California” (McGrath, n.d.).
Ryden is a painter whose surrealist illustrations daringly describes memorable fairy tales by utilizing characters filled of literary nuances appearing to be straight out of the Little Golden Books collection that most of us grew up reading and later read to our own children. I’m sure any one of us can recall being read the stories of Alice in Wonderland; Poky Little Puppy; Velveteen Rabbit or The Little Engine that Could.
"MAGIC CIRCUS" MARK RYDEN
Surrealist art uses familiar forms and characters and also may use shapes and forms that are more difficult to recognize or maybe the objects don’t narrate the same story, feelings, nuances or meanings to the audience as they do the artist. The same way that a smell might bring about feelings or emotions, the same is true for pictures, for instance seeing a picture of a sunny beach might not bring about the same memories for you as they do for me; living in Florida I think of hot summers, suntan oil and Pina Colada’s but had I never been to a beach, I wouldn’t have these memories. However, if I showed you a picture of child learning to ride a bicycle you might have different memories of learning to ride a bicycle than I have, although they may be slightly similar.
Most surrealist art chronicles a story through the use of depictions of the subconscious mind using both bright and moody colors or dark and heavy colors and combinations of odd but common pictures and symbols to be analyzed and interpreted. Although Ryden’s work is very strange, it has that quality of familiarity and I have to admit I find his art very appealing and somewhat stimulating. The prospect of analyzing the puzzling scenarios challenges my mind, and anything that can challenge my mind I find quite enticing. Ryden’s compositions are very distinctive from other surrealists’ art because of his use of soft, light and whimsical pastel colors with a smooth, luxurious touch or texture.
Ryden’s work, although slightly disturbing consist of these similarities in his beautiful, entertaining and sometimes silly scenarios, and although they may not all convey to the senses in the same way for each of us, one thing holds true to each of the compositions and this is the characters. They are familiar to us because we grew up with them and knew them like we knew our best friends. For me, one of the most appealing aspects of Ryden’s art is the similarity to the character’s in which I knew and loved and that bring back old childhood memories. By utilizing fairy tale pictures and soft pinks and pastels in his compositions Ryden gives his art the impression, or misrepresentation that it should be hanging on a small child’s bedroom wall. However after closer examination of the art, as opposed to ‘sweat dreams’ making Little Golden Books in which his paintings echo, a parent would be foolish to allow such art in a child’s room being that it’s right up there with letting them watch Friday night horror movies or telling them stories of the boogeyman; the kind of stuff that gives children nightmares.
The familiar items Ryden uses are doe-eyes, which render a likeness to Bambi’s eyes, in all of his little girls and adorable little plush animals. He also uses sacrificial or religious motifs, alchemical symbols, primordial, natural, familiar surroundings and chunks of meat like bloody t-bone steaks and slabs of ham that challenge his spectators mind, and not necessarily because of their own peculiarities, but because of Ryden’s combination of our comforting childhood friends in the presence of the very abnormal and slightly creepy venues in which he portrays them.
Ryden’s work in which I would like to take with me is foremost, his odd use of smooth, luxurious textures and pastel colors in his compositions. This is odd because most surrealist art employs the use of both bright and cheery or dark and depressing colors. The second element is the fluid and comprehensive use of objects established in Ryden’s compositions, although as previously mentioned, his works are just as puzzling as any surrealist piece of art, however, others use more vague and detached objects than what is established in Ryden’s pieces, bringing a sense of isolation, whereas Ryden’s work brings a connected sense of familiarity.
Surrealism - Mark Ryden
“THE ECSTASY OF CECELIA" MARK RYDEN
"THE DEBUTANTE" MARK RYDEN
“The Debutante” features not only a portrait of Jesus, but also strangely, Abraham Lincoln and Colonel Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken; like in “The Ecstasy of Cecelia” there is a single unblinking eye on the hem of the young debutante’s skirt.
"THE MEAT MAGI" MARK RYDEN
“The Meat Magi” once again features the eye, Abe Lincoln, and the BEE that was present in “The Debutante”, as well as a symbol/letter on the boy’s shirt. This symbol appears frequently in Ryden’s paintings.
"THE MEAT TRAIN" MARK RYDEN
Little Golden Books, "TOOTLES" (1945)
“The Meat Train” features the Russian/Cyrillic alphabet and Chinese characters. One could analyze all the symbols and allusions until the cows come home and still not come to a conclusion to what Ryden means by the combination of all of this. His fetishism for raw meat, blood, sweat make me think that he is suggesting that we go back to the days wherein children play in tea parties and wear girly dresses and play with fluffy animals. The raw meat, blood, and sweat all refer to the primitive, when things weren’t nicely packaged in the postmodern world, when children saw blood every day as they watched dinner being hunted down, and when children used their wild imagination to tell stories of trees with eyes and Mr. Abe Lincoln joining them for a trip to the circus" (Lee. 2008).
"CORKEY ASCENDING TO THE HEAVEN" MARK RYDEN
The mailman in the above titled painting, Corkey Ascending to the Heaven greatly resembles The Merry Mailman, Little Golden Books (1950's)
"SOPHIA'S TEA PARTY" MARK RYDEN
In Sophia's Tea Party the “Be Good” frame that hangs overhead seems ironic, as the girl (Rosie, presumably) is cutting up hunks of meat with a giant saw bigger than her arm and feeding it to a white cat and mice (as well as serving it to a red-eyed bunny, a baby, a tiny Abe Lincoln and a blond Barbie, no less). Do the bunny rabbit and the little white kitten look familiar? They should if your familiar with the Little Golden Books, The Three Little Kittens or Animal Friends.
"TREE OF LIFE" MARK RYDEN
"The Tree Show” , exhibited at the Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles, CA on March 2007 was, according to Holly Myers, “to introduce Ryden to a new level of collector”, and also according to Myers, “this was accomplished before the exhibition even opened”, as she further explains, “The show, predictably, was sold out before the preview”(Myers, 2007)and “the buyers, according to Kohn, were primarily American and among them were MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) trustees”(Myers, 2007).
"ALLEGORY OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS" MARK RYDEN
Allegory of the Four Elements, as indicated by Myers, “was sold within moments of the opening of the Art Basel Miami fair in December, to a Colorado collector for $300,000. Tree of Life went for a whopping $800,000, the sculpture for $500,000” (Myers, 2007).
REFERENCES
Lee, Jenny. (2008 April 9). Mark Ryden – Postmodernist Painter. Retrieved from website at http://nutellacube.wordpress.com/
McGrath, Earl. (n.d.). Earl McGrath Gallery; Mark Ryden. Retrieved November 19, 2010 from website: http://www.earlmcgrathgallery.com/galleryartists/ryden/
Myers, Holly. (2007 March 20). "Shooting low, aiming high; the strange Trajectory of Mark Ryden. (LA Weekly). Retrieved November 19, 2010 from website: http://www.laweekly.com/2007-03-22/art-books/shooting-low-aiming-high/
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