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Previews
By Debra Koppman, ARTWEEK
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Ryan Reynolds, Richmond II, 2005, oil on panel, 30" x 48"
b. sakata garo
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Ryan Reynolds looks to the rich structural fields of urban landscape for inspiration. In his world, there are freeways, storage sheds, and construction projects in process, ships and apartment buildings. But there are no humans, no cars, no buses. As a result, his paintings are abstract despite how accurately the structures are depicted. Without context, without suggested use, images such as Swing Set,, which is totally specific, feel to be about form, shadow and light, rather than about a particular house on a spefic street. We see the swing set, on the front green lawn of a small, modest house and the cement wall in the background, but we can't image a child here. The tension between concrete detail and human absence creates a sense of eeriness and unease. Where as everyone gone? And this is no isolated desolate scene; Reynolds has created a world of them. Richmond III shows a sun-washed, sandy, empty field behind a long stretch of freeway in which image and context are disconnected. No cars, no people, no sign of anyone ever coming. Richmond IIis a very abstracted view of warehouses or shipping containers. Specific details are crowded out by more color and contrast, asserting the primacy of composition over narrative more clearly.
Ryan Reynolds will be on view September 5-30 at b. sakata garo, 923 20th St., Sacramento.
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Critic's Pick
By Victoria Dalkey, Bee Art Corrspondent, The Sacramento Bee
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"Richmond III"/Ryan Reynolds.
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Eschewing any hint of the sentimental or picturesque, Ryan Reynolds' oil paintings blend abstraction and painterly realism into strong compositions that capture the grittiness of the contemporary urban landscape. A solo show of recent works by the artist, who teaches at Santa Clara University, is up through Sept. 30 at b. sakata garo, 923 20th St. (916) 447-4276.
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Art Review
Get into 'scape
By Saunthy Nicolson-Singh, The Sacramento News and Review
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Ryan Reynolds' "Telephone Pole," oil on canvas, 2006.
b. sakata garo
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As evidenced in his oil paintings at the B. Sakata Garo gallery, 923 20th Street, Ryan Reynolds finds fascination with typically mundane urban features. Under his brush, construction sites, electrical wires and seafaring vessels mutate into curious abstractions or trip the senses. “Ships February 21” offers ships paused at long docks, delineating and piercing a blue expanse in a painterly way that’s initially reminiscent of Wayne Thiebaud. But you have to work to pick the imagery out of the abstract. “Wires” makes you feel cross-eyed or like you’re looking through a very shaky camera lens; Reynolds has captured an almost vibrating movement on the canvas--you can practically hear the electricity buzzing through the lines. In his oil and chalk “Yellow Bumps,” he takes something as casual as a walking surface and injects a tactile feel. The sun bouncing off metal girders makes you squint in “Glare.” Through September 30. For more information, call (916) 447-4276.
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