NYAB Event - Ry Rocklen “My Metropolitan”

Ry Rocklen “My Metropolitan”

Feuer/Mesler

[Image: Ry Rocklen, Poly/Covered Jar Iran Ilkhanid period (1206-1353), second half of the 13th-14th century (2015) Ceramic and frame 21 x 17.5 x 9 in.]

This event has ended.

Feuer/Mesler presents My Metropolitan, an exhibition of new work by Ry Rocklen.

For Rocklen’s latest body of work he continues his incorporation of found objects and references of contemporary cultures into his sculptures. Using the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as a starting research point, Rocklen shot hundreds of images of sculptural antiquities in the galleries. From the images, he chose eight to become templates and muses for ceramic sculptures.

The resulting works take form in dual sided sculptures that sit on shelves with mirrored backs, enabling the viewer to see both sides of the pieces. One flat side has a decal of the actual image of the object that has been fired and turned to glaze. The opposite side, seen only in reflection, is sculpted in the round with Rocklen incorporating modern elements molded in clay into the representation of the figure or object from the museum. They have been given new and familiar textures through plaster molds made from the artist’s world and his personal possessions. A mold is made of the bottom of the L.A. river to give texture to an ancient king’s face, while a button from Rocklen’s sweatshirt becomes the eye of an ancient worshipper, the fingers of the artist and his companion become the scales faceting the surface of an ancient clay vessel with human form.

Rocklen looks to these images of ancient artifacts to find common ground between what was going on at that point in history and what is currently happening today. The Metropolitan antiquities are extruded through artist and studio—a funneling of ancient antiquity, a reimagining of archaic object.

Ry Rocklen (b. 1978) received his BFA from the University of California, Los Angeles and his MFA from the University of Southern California. He lives and works in Los Angeles. Recent solo exhibitions include Ry Rocklen at UNTITLED (2014), A Living at Praz Delavallade, Paris, France (2014), Believe You Me at UNTITLED, New York, NY (2011), ZZZ at the Visual Arts Center, The University of Texas at Austin, TX (2010), House of Return at Parker Jones, Los Angeles, CA (2009), and Good Grief at Bernier/Eliades, Athens, Greece (2009). His work has been part of numerous group exhibitions including Murmurs: Recent Contemporary Acquisitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Made in L.A. at the Hammer Museum, That Was Then, This Was Now atMoMA P.S. 1 and the Whitney Biennial. His work will be included in Sculpture from the Hammer Contemporary Collection at the Hammer Museum that opens on January 23.