~RYAN KITSON . . ‘BIG COUNTRY’ / HYACINTH GALLERY
‘Jack be nimble, Jack – be quick /
Jack jump over – the candlestick.’
‘BIG COUNTRY’ . . .
a group show featuring the work of 5 artists /
is up thru . . . SUN APRIL 17, 2022
HYACINTH GALLERY, LOWER EAST SIDE
read: ‘BIG COUNTRY’ / HYACINTH GALLERY
RYAN KITSON, ‘Shot, Tipped, Flipped, and Flopped’, 2021.
Painted aluminum / 18 x 21 x 1 in.
photo via Instagram @hyacinthgallery
RYAN KITSON: another one / Mt. Ashland, Oregon / posted June 2021
photo via Instagram @ryankitson
I like small pieces.
especially . . . those that are curious. original. often light-reflecting, and definite striking,
within different contexts, and places. functional, or pseudo . . they carry more resonance than their size would belie. it’s like a bite of divine sushi, a poetic phrase, and a tiny revelation – without a huge reveal.
it’s so . . . underground.
it makes the mainstream art world look ridiculous, pompous & over-wrought.
it’s kind of like . . artlovers !!
if you’re small enough – you are always on the thin / cutting edge.
my latest epiphany – on the matter is:
the current rapper ‘style’ war / regarding whether to wrap colorful plastic / craft bead necklaces – around one’s neck, as opposed to the heavy duty diamond spectacle / or serious also heavy, gold chain.
obviously, I’m coming down on the side of the . . light-to-wear, and, who-gives-a-care / about-your-or-mine – damn-wallet / pretty, and pretty much low-fi neck adornments of . . JUSTIN BEIBER, PETE DAVIDSON, and, even this week: A$AP ROCKY !! showing up with his $50 green plastic Tamagotchi / dangling from a longish plastic chain. low-key creativity, apparently still a big shock / even after, that thrift shop vintage 70s popcorn bubble quilt- he wrapped himself up in, for the Met Gala runway / just another way low fi & crafts say: check out your world, dude.
as opposed to the stodgy, look-at-me dude / million dollar, million-and-a-half dollar ? heavy anchor-around-your-neck, chain, that Drake looked so dumb in / photographed at a recent basketball game, sitting court-side, of course.
surrounded by security, btw.
dressed as friends, as if.
what’s really to ponder in art, I mean / sometimes we /or . . really, 3/4 of the rest of the art world forgets /
is . . that it’s not the million dollar ‘price’ tag, the ‘established’ status, or the so-called, & definitely in-house manipulated ‘value’ of the blue-chip art market / which is obviously a kind of legal ‘con’ game for sure, though sometimes – it is nice to see ‘history’ in the flesh, no doubt.
but, what’s really to ponder, is how a small piece of colored, common metal, maybe just a few dollars of materials, if that / and, definite with no real ‘retail’ past history / can reflect so beautifully – the shifting light of the sky above a mountain, as well as the mountain, itself.
and, in doing so / in that tiny moment: voice a ‘concern’, an ‘awareness’ / of that mountain, and the society as whole which surrounds it.
our culture, our urbanization. our natural poetry – or, what there is that is left of it, and our need, whether we know it, or not . . . for that very connected-ness.
and then, just as simply – one day / pick up, and join an edgy, but truly heart-borne, group show in the deepest gritty heart of NYC, Canal St., and still come up . . dancing. reflecting, causing . . . pause to ponder.
to tip-toe into the world / as light on your feet, as you can be / that, is the real potency of the art world, today.
good night, pre-ponderous art.
good night, moon. and, watch out for crashing space junk, yikes,
I think I can see 3 eyes up there on your face now ?!!
and it’s not – the 3rd eye, either.
and, if you can really connect-the-dots, and the bullet-holes, when . . they say: space exploration . . “is to find life on Mars”, nope. it is – not.
it is – a search for minerals, to mine.
check out: RYAN KITSON / Instagram @ryankitson