Ryan McNamara "Still"
Elizabeth Dee
This event has ended.
Ryan McNamara will have his first solo gallery exhibition at Elizabeth Dee from February 25 – April 7. After considering the unique conditions of such an enterprise, he arrived at a solution: a continuation of his performative practice developing into an exhibition of art objects, providing an opportunity to present both sides of his practice.
Really, though, what he wants to do is share this event. With you. Ryan will be here every day for three weeks (February 25 – March 17) waiting. For you. The result of your partnership with Ryan will be posted daily on our website: www.elizabethdee.com (you’ll get versions in your inbox too). Beyond a mere record of a collaborative production, these images will then be recuperated and transformed into the exhibited artwork.
During the second portion of the project, (March 20 – April 7), these material culminations will be on display in the gallery. Ryan has been training and preparing for months through the creation of sculptural prototypes, anticipating a wide variety of outcomes that could take place in the gallery’s performance production. He is equally excited by the fact that, despite all this planning, the uncertainty of these spontaneous collaborations will determine the project’s final form.
Speaking of which, some of Ryan’s past collaborators will be helping him through the course of the show. During the exhibition portion of the project, these talented artists have been invited by Ryan to perform their own work in the gallery during the final two weeks.
Ryan McNamara creates situation-specific works that collectively form an expanded view of participation within art production. His works involve other artists, viewers and dance professionals as collaborators. Created before and during and after the performative events, photography and objects are integral to McNamara’s practice. He forms a uniquely social discourse, developing events that break with traditional notions of performance and embrace realism and interaction as necessary aspects of viewing experience. The participants themselves are central to the primary activity or action and McNamara is the engaged enabler of a situation he has authored with an undefined final outcome.
Welcoming uncertainty, McNamara has enthusiastically and intentionally pursued temporary and collaborative projects as diverse as biennial exhibitions, museum benefits, and one night performances in a variety of public and private spaces resulting in a truly fluid practice that intertwines the art community, social networks and technology.
Media
Schedule
from February 25, 2012 to April 14, 2012