RYANN SLAUSON
b. 1986, Berkeley CA
I work with simple and sometimes salvaged materials such as cardboard, wood, string, and paper to create approximate and earnest attempts at replications of things from the world. My sculptures skew inherent cultural values, personal narratives, and emotional weight attached to mundane and/or discarded items and objects. Emerging from a vernacular soup of fractured memories, found imagery, internet garbage, actual garbage, and daily observation, these sculptures embody a haptic quality oscillating between bitter humor and sloppy celebration. Oftentimes pieces are arranged into pile-like combinations which mirror sidewalk debris, T.G.I. Friday’s, and cluttered childhood closets.
I write poems in an infinite offline Google Doc; a jumble of the everyday with messages and tweets glued to ripped off Blink-182 lyrics. Situated in looping soundscapes, my videos blend poetry with various web-based disposable images into democratic compositions referencing digital experiences and contemporary internet architecture. I focus on isolated moments of intensity, frenetic movement, and intimate gestures from blockbuster science fiction films, Saturday-morning cartoons, commercials, gifs, and outdated animations sifted from various internet sources. Syncing each poem’s pacing to a repetitive soundtrack, these videos weave familiarity with the bizarre, providing the viewer with a hypnotizing and haunting puzzle of pop culture and the personal.
EDUCATION
2015 MA, Modern and Contemporary Art History, Purchase College at SUNY. Purchase, NY
2014 MFA, Studio Art, Purchase College at SUNY. Purchase, NY
2010 BFA, Sculpture and Extended Media, University of South Florida. Tampa, FL
AWARDS/GRANTS
2014 PUNCH Award, International Juried Exhibition, PUNCH Gallery. Seattle, WA
2011 Hampton Arts Management Micro Grant. Tampa, FL
RESIDENCIES
Grin City Collective, Grinnell, IA. 2015
The Wassaic Project Residency Program, Wassaic, NY. 2014, 2015, 2016
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 AMBITION, Scott Charmin Gallery. Houston, TX
2014 I’M SORRY I TOLD YOU TO GROW UP TODAY, Gallery 1989. Larchmont, NY
2014 IF YOU’RE NOT GETTING BETTER, YOU’RE GETTING WORSE. Tempus Projects. Tampa, FL
2011 PALE BLUE DOT, Tempus Projects. Tampa, FL
PERFORMANCES
2015 ONLY THE LONELY, unique time-based performance for IT’S GONNA TAKE A LOT OF LOVE,
Franklin Street Works. Stamford, CT.
2015 ONE NIGHT ONLY, unique time-based performance. Sleeth Gallery at West Virginia Wesleyan College. Buckhannon, WV
SELECTED TWO/THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2014 THE WANDERERS, Trestle Projects. Brooklyn, NY
2013 JINKS/JINX, 1019A Gallery. Purchase, NY
2012 RECITAL, 1019A Gallery. Purchase, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 CANTERING LOOP, Ballroom Projects. Chicago, IL
2017 FROM CONCRETE TO LIQUID TO SPOKEN WORLDS TO THE WORD, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève. Geneva, Switzerland
2017 WORDHACK: INSTALLED, Babycastles. New York City, NY
2017 YOU DRAIN ME, Tempus Projects. Tampa, FL
2016 MAYBE I'VE BEEN LIVING FOREVER, 405 Johnson Ave. Brooklyn, NY
2016 VOX VII: NEWS AND WEATHER, Vox Populi. Philadelphia, PA
2016 PSYCHEDELIC PANTRY PARTY, Ortega Y Gasset Projects. Brooklyn, NY
2016 THE FUTURE FOLDS INTO TODAY, Babycastles. New York City, NY
2016 THERE ARE PLACES THAT AREN'T HERE, Bowery Poetry Club. New York City, NY
2016 APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION, The Wassaic Project. Wassaic, NY
2016 ORANGE STATE, Morean Art Center. St. Petersburg, FL
2016 WE ARE SURVIVORS, Public Space One. Iowa City, IA
2016 THE IPHONE CAMERA SOUND, No. 4 Studio. Brooklyn, NY
2016 NEAR MINT, Retzlaff Gallery at Southern Oregon University. Ashland, OR / Land Gallery. Portland, OR
2016 OPEN (C)ALL: UP FOR DEBATE, BRIC House. Brooklyn, NY
2015 THIS DOG NEEDS A NAME, Good Work Gallery. Brooklyn, NY
2015 DEEP END, The Wassaic Project. Wassaic, NY
2015 (A) STATE OF FLORIDA, Alfstad& Contemporary Art Gallery. Sarasota, FL
2015 MARKING TIME, Adam Baumgold Gallery. New York City, NY
2014 INTERNATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION, PUNCH Gallery. Seattle, WA
2014 SEEING THE SKY, The Wassaic Project. Wassaic, NY
2014 CHRONICLE, Scott Charmin Gallery. Houston, TX
2014 IN THE FORM OF A PAINTING, Tempus Projects. Tampa, FL
2014 WORKS ON PAPER, Harper College Art Exhibition Space. Palatine, IL
2013 IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING, Katzen Rotunda Gallery at American University. Washington D.C.
2013 CAA REGIONAL MFA EXHIBITION, New York Center for Media Studies. New York, NY
2013 A.I.R. 40th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION, A.I.R. Gallery. Brooklyn, NY
2013 I NEVER THOUGHT SO MUCH COULD CHANGE, Tempus Projects. Tampa, FL
2012 DIVINING ROD, Richard & Dolly Maass Gallery. Purchase, NY
2012 17 TIPS PROJECT, Sleeth Gallery. Buckhannon, WV
2011 BITS AND PIECES, Tempus Projects. Tampa, FL
2010 CONTAIN-IT! Dunedin Fine Arts Center. Dunedin, FL
2008 SOUND EFFECTS, Tampa Museum of Art. Tampa, FL
COLLECTIONS
DADABASE, The Museum of Modern Art Artists’ Books Collection. New York, NY
WATSONLINE, Thomas J. Watson Library Special Collections, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, NY
SOUTHERN GRAPHICS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL, PRINTS COLLECTION AND ARCHIVE, Zuckerman Museum Of Art. Atlanta, GA
PUBLICATIONS
SPY KIDS REVEW, Issue #4
New American Paintings, MFA Issue #123, April/May 2016