NEW YORK, NY.- Paul Kasmin Gallery iannounces Will Ryman, America on view at the gallerys 515 West 27th Street, New York location, 28 February 30 March, 2013. Ryman is also exhibiting his large-scale sculpture, Bird (2012), crafted from real and fabricated steel nails at the Flatiron Plaza located at Broadway and 23rd Street in collaboration with the NYC Department of Transportations Urban Art Program and the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership, 24 March April 21, 2013. America is inspired by the artists personal methodological exploration of the origins of capitalism within the scope of American history. Ryman uses found objects ranging from consumer products to industrial and hardware materials, to create masterful and intricate sculptures. Rymans installation questions both the history and the evolution of consumer capitalism in America. Through his creative process, Ryman strives to create work that explores the contradictions of the human condition.
Ryman appropriates Abraham Lincolns boyhood cabin to stand as an iconic emblem of American socio-economic conflict during the Civil War and its eventual transformation. The cabin, coated in gold resin, is composed of an amalgam of American products and objects, each possessing their own history and American symbolism. Rymans cabin invites the viewer to literally step into the structure, allowing for the absorption of the meticulous detailed inlay of gold resin-coated objects. The shackles and chains that make up the cabins foundation are covered with cross-shaped bulletproof glass, juxtaposing American religious culture and Americas involvement in the slave trade. The cabin as a whole marks a change in industrial and consumer products spanning over several centuries. The walls, trusses, roof and fireplace are composed of a variety of objects ranging from bullets-collected from historic battles such as the Civil War and WWII, pharmaceuticals, phone parts, cotton and corn, in addition to modern-day luxury products. The materials are all arranged in geometric shapes, imbuing a modernist aesthetic and structure within the cabin.
Will Rymans most recent exhibitions include, Anyone and No One at Paul Kasmin Gallery, NYC (2012); Will Ryman: Desublimation of the Rose, at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, FL (2011 2012); 90th Anniversary Installation at the Phillips at The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (2011- 2012); and The Roses on Park Avenue, New York (2011). Individual works have been exhibited at the Verbier Foundation, Switzerland; the Sculpture Park at Frieze Art Fair, London; Fairchild Gardens; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN; The American Academy of Arts and Letters; Reconfiguring the Body in American Art, 1820-2009 (2009), at The National Academy of Design, New York; and The Shape of Things to Come (2009), at The Saatchi Gallery, London. Sculpture: Selections from the collection of Martin Z. Margulies (2007), at Margulies Warehouse, Miami; and Greater New York 2005, at MoMA PS1, New York.