RYAN SCHNEIDER: NOCTURNER
Almine Rech New York is pleased to announce Nocturner, Ryan Schneider's solo exhibition. Strewn with craggy boulders, ringed by majestic mountains, and with expansive vistas as far as the eye can see, it is seductive in its unfamiliarity, its unknowability.
June 27 - August 2, 2024
Vast and elemental, the allure of the Californian high desert is undeniable. The rugged landscape can be inhospitable and alien at times and mystical and magical at others. There will always be more to discover, to explore, to conquer. For decades, artists have been captivated by the high desert’s magnetic energy, its magnificent light, and its promise of solitude, of space to think, reflect, and regenerate.
Schneider’s practice initially focused on figurative and still life painting, exploring deep, personal narrative in cubist compositions. Several years ago, the abundance of open space around his studio encouraged Schneider to expand his practice to include sculpture. Inspired by the primal nature of the landscape, his long-standing interest in various traditions of ancient and Indigenous art, and a foundation in Cubism and German Expressionism, he took a break from painting and picked up a chainsaw.
He describes his way of working as drawing or mark-making with the saw, and because the material and process were completely new to him, he had no baggage and could be completely free, improvising and exploring both the limits and potential of the three-dimensional medium.
The angular facets, deep incisions and grooves, and varying scale of Schneider’s sculpture, whether the size of a human figure or smaller and more intimate, invited other explorations, such as burning the wood or casting the pieces in bronze. Once cast, form and materiality meld seamlessly and naturally, and the sculptures become not only more monolithic but something other, something solemn, something more intense, spiritual, and mysterious.
With their dark, velvety colors and bold, primitive forms, these “carved paintings” give us a glimpse into an Eden at night, a “Non-Eden” with figures that slowly materialize from the darkness. The notched edges of the carved paintings are like windows that open to welcome in the balmy dusk. Bodies begin to stir. A nude woman gazes from an open window, her long hair brushing her bare breasts.
Capturing the primal energy, strength, and intuitive nature of his sculpture in his two-dimensional work, whether on canvas or carved in wood, Schneider invites viewers to join the engaging, provocative conversation that reverberates from painting to sculpture and back again.