OHT Gallery Boston

Previous Exhibits

Something Else

Recent Paintings
Ryan Steadman

October 4 - 26, 2002
Reception: Friday, October 4, 5:30 - 7:30 pm

Ryan Steadman brings new meaning to landscape painting. Reducing man-made spaces and structures (public parks, stadiums, apartment buildings, etc.) to simple combinations of geometric shapes, he presents a coolly minimal stage for the awkward human dramas enacted by his subjects. Much like the tragi-comic miming of Charlie Chaplin, Steadman's work depicts the bittersweet humor in the "trials and tribulations" of others. The action in these paintings ranges from the athletic to the pathetic, as his figures/characters stumble through a variety of mundane crises.

The contrast between Steadman's flatly painted, modernist backgrounds, and his thickly painted, expressionist figures is reinforced by a similar disparity in scale. Doll-like figures are dwarfed by the looming, existential vastness of his architecture and landscapes. In these paintings Ryan Steadman gives us a sensitive portrayal of the frailties of humankind and the poignancy of the human condition.

Ryan Steadman lives and works in Brooklyn. He has an MFA from Pratt Institute and a BFA from the University of Georgia. This is his first one-person show and first exhibition at O·H+T gallery.