Ryan McGinness
Finding Infinity
October 9–November 16, 2013
Opening: Thursday, October 10, 6–8:30pm
Bridgette Mayer Gallery
709 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 10am–6pm
& by appointment
T 215 413 8893
F 215 413 2283
bmayer [at] bridgettemayergallery.com
Bridgette Mayer Gallery is pleased to announce its premiere solo exhibition of work by internationally known artist Ryan McGinness. Finding Infinity will be on view from October 9 to November 16, with an opening reception Thursday, October 10, 6–8:30pm. The exhibition will feature new sculptures, prints, and paintings from three different bodies of McGinness’ work. As installations and spatial complexities are an interest of the artist, McGinness has created a unique body of work paying special attention to the architecture of the gallery space for his overall installation.
The gallery is also excited to simultaneously announce its sponsorship of a major mural, along with the University City Science Center and the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. This monumental mural will be featured on the far side of the University City Science Center. The dedication will be held on location at 3711 Market Street Philadelphia on October 11, from 5:30 to 8pm. The work features layers of “event horizons,” creating a feeling of portals into an infinite inner space, and a strong gravitational pull on the senses.
Finding Infinity will explore three of McGinness’ recent bodies of works—his “Black Holes,” his “Mindscapes,” and his “Women” series. Each series represents the in depth study of a combination ideas. The Black Holes will be represented by a series of round paintings. This series has been in progress since 2004, and is the exploration of outer space, über fanciness, and inner space. McGinness is interested in the way that the vortex and ideas of theoretical physics can be used as metaphors for exploring the mind. In the series “Mindscapes,” consisting of paintings and prints, McGinness layers iconic drawings and symbols from throughout art history to explore the inner art world and create a mental landscape. The “Women,” a series of prints and sculptures, uses sensual female forms that McGinness has developed through an extensive sketching process to create hybrid images and sculptures by layering and juxtaposing different appendages from various ‘models’ into a sensuous yet abstract whole.
Ryan McGinness received his BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and has been an active artist since 1996. His work has been the focus of solo exhibitions throughout the world (New York, Los Angeles, Madrid, Tokyo, Helsinki, Milan, Paris, Munich, amongst others), including shows at the Cincinnati Art Museum and upcoming exhibitions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (September 2013) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (fall 2014). He has been the subject of fourteen books, and Sketchbook Selections—a book focused on his extensive practice of sketching ideas—was just released by Gingko Press. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo, the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, and many others.
