OHT Gallery Boston

Previous Exhibits

New Paintings

Ryan Steadman

June 3 - 25, 2005
Reception: Friday, June 3, 5:30 - 7:30 pm

O·H+T gallery is pleased to present New Paintings by Ryan Steadman. Though reminiscent of work exhibited in Something Else (October, 2002, O·H+T) the formal and emotional relationships in these new paintings have evolved and become more complex.

Drawing on personal narratives and observations, Steadman isolates human moments ranging from the light-hearted to the melancholy. Loosely painted figures set against abstracted, urban backdrops engage in mini-dramas that explore themes of loss, empathy, failure, rebellion, alienation and hope. The Chaplinesque humor of Something Else is replaced by a more introspective and empathetic rendering of the human condition... where figures interact rather than going it alone.

In Jump, a long horizontal piece that is perhaps the most similar to earlier work, a lone figure vaults over a fence of thin, multicolored pickets set against an empty black background. The figure, painted in thick gooey oil paint, stands out both literally and figuratively from the slick black enamel ground and rainbow-colored fence. Over the Wall, (blue) shows Steadman's move away from the cool formality and existential emptiness of earlier work. Larger figures become part of the environment as one figure helps another over a wall of multicolored, brick-like, rectangles. Again, the painterly figures contrast with the precise geometry of the ground, though here, the dominance of vibrant color energizes the painting visually and psychologically.

Ryan Steadman lives and works in Brooklyn. He has shown his work in New York at Baumgartner Gallery, RARE Gallery and Lehman Maupin Gallery. His work has been published in the Harpers Magazine 'Readings' section and New American Paintings. He curated the exhibition Happy at O·H+T gallery in January 2004. This is Ryan Steadman's second one-person exhibition at O·H+T.