Jump to content

Mark Ryden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Lee Bailey (talk | contribs) at 06:35, 14 March 2007 (→History: npov). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mark Ryden
Ryden in his Pasadena, California studio, photo by Ann E. Cutting
Born
Mark Ryden
EducationArt Center College of Design
Known forPainter

Mark Ryden (b. January 20, 1963 in Medford, Oregon) is an American fine-art painter.

History

Mark is the son of Barbara and Keith Ryden, born in Medford, Oregon but was raised in Southern California, in cities like Anaheim, the home of Disneyland. He has two sisters and two brothers, one a fellow artist named Keyth, (the spelling from Keith was changed in 1969, for reasons relating to numerology and to distinguish himself from his father's first name) who professionally goes by the name KRK Ryden.

File:Blab!11Cover.jpg
Cover of Blab! #11, The Butcher Bunny, by Mark Ryden.

Ryden studied Illustration and graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, in 1987. His solo debut show was in Pasadena, California in 1998. He currently lives in Eagle Rock, California and has a studio on top of the famous Castle Green Hotel in Pasadena that he shares with his partner, artist Marion Peck. He is divorced and has two children Rosie and Jasper.

Ryden's work combines a hyper-cute cartoon-like sensibility - much like the doe-eyed Margaret Keane creatures of the 1960s - with a detailed fullness and a creepy combination of numerology, little girls, Catholic and Buddhist symbolism, and carnivalesque Americana. His work ranges from large highly-polished oil paintings to small black-and-white works on paper. Like modern illustrators Sir John Tenniel and Edward Gorey, Ryden is influenced by the fantastic art of Alice in Wonderland and early Renaissance landscapes.

File:JoJCHGF.jpg
Oil on Canvas 16" x 16" Clear Hearts, Grey Flowers, 2000, by Mark Ryden.

His work has gained greater prominence within the public domain thanks to so-called lowbrow art publications such as Juxtapoz in which his work features regularly. In fact Ryden has collaborated with other lowbrow artists such as Gary Baseman and Tim Biskup, in addition to composers Stan Ridgway (Wall of Voodoo) and Pietra Wexstun, ( the CD soundtrack to "Blood - Miniature Paintings of Sorrow and Fear")

Mark Ryden (left) with a young fan at "The Tree Show" (March 2007, Los Angeles, Calif.).

Ryden has designed album covers for a very eclectic list of musicians, including Scarling., Ringo Starr, Oingo Boingo, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Butthole Surfers, Jack Off Jill, and Michael Jackson. His paintings are treasured by collectors all around the world. His celebrity clients include Stephen King, Alton Brown, Leonardo DiCaprio, Danny Elfman, Chris Carter, Bridget Fonda, Jessicka and famous anti-mogul Long Gone John.

Over the past decade, the marriage of accessibility, craftsmanship and technique with social relevance, emotional resonance and cultural reference has catapulted Ryden beyond his roots and to the attention of museums, critics and serious collectors. Ryden’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, including a recent museum retrospective “Wondertoonel” at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle and Pasadena Museum of California Art.

Ryden's current exhibit, "The Tree Show," opened to acclaim at the Michael Kohn gallery in Los Angeles on March 10, 2007 -- and features a selection of oil paintings and sculptures. A separate chamber, containing many of Ryden's detailed studies for each of the paintings and exquisitely carved frames, is also made available. The largest of the paintings, "The Tree of Life," sold for $800,000 before the exhibit opened. According to Gallery currators, one later addition, an oil painting featuring a ghostly girl in a wooded location, has been aquired by Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.

Trivia

  • Ryden was commissioned by Capitol, to do album art for the band Butthole Surfers' album After the Astronaut. Because of complications, the album was not released, and Marcy Playground used the artwork for their 1999 album Shapeshifter.
  • In the 2001 live action/animated film Monkeybone, the painting supposedly drawn by Stu before undergoing therapy is very similar to The Birth, by Mark Ryden. Much of the film's art bears a strong resemblance to that of Ryden—for example, the bust of Abraham Lincoln as The Great Emancipator; however Ryden is not credited.

Publications

  • Fushigi Circus (2006)
  • Blood Show (2005)
  • Wondertoonel Paintings (2004)
  • Bunnies and Bees (2002)
  • The Art of Mark Ryden: Anima Mundi (2001)

Work

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2007 "The Tree Show", Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, California
  • 2005 "Wondertoonel", Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
  • 2004 "Wondertoonel", Frye Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
  • 2003 "Blood" Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, California
  • 2003 "Insalta Mista" Mondo Bizzarro Gallery, Bologna, Italy
  • 2002 "Bunnies and Bees", Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, California
  • 2001 "Bunnies and Bees", Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, New York
  • 2000 "Amalgamation", Outre Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
  • 1998 "The Meat Show", Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California

A Selection of Album and Single Covers

Michael Jackson, Dangerous album cover.
Red Hot Chili Peppers, One Hot Minute album cover.
File:BandAidBulletHole.jpg
"Wound 39" used for Scarling.,Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole.

Mark Ryden is also credited for 'Tattoo Art' on Aerosmith's Pump (album)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_Ryden&oldid=114997207"