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On Saturday, June 29th from 12-3pm, join zine author and artist Ryan Burns as he signs copies of his work and displays original paintings. This is a free event!www.ryanbuuurns.com
www.cleanergallery.com
ARTIST BIO
Ryan Burns, b. 1983, is a Chicago based artist who received a BFA from the University of Louisville and an MFA from Northern Illinois University. His paintings have been exhibited in numerous group shows at Hyde Park Art Center, Heaven Gallery, Riverside Arts Center, and bars and party spots in Chicago. Burns is Director and Founder of Cleaner Gallery + Projects located in Chicago, IL. Since 2016 Cleaner Gallery has hosted 35+ shows and has been reviewed in New City, Visual Arts Source, and Sixty Inches From Center.
I make zine drawings and still life paintings of fruit. The work looks like a multi-panel framed shadowbox, consisting of autobiographical ink drawings on raw canvas and fruit still life oil paintings on panel. Autobio zines and observational paintings gain insight into the past, search for personal identity, and provide empowerment to the author and audience.
Overcast skies over a brick apartment, the sun doesn’t shine in northern Illinois, gray and windy and 60 degrees, concrete everywhere, but a few trees in the parkway, gazing through the window. Dense populations create anonymity but also galvanize character.
Through ink drawing I explore elements of narrative storytelling. My self-published zines focus on autobiographical content and themes of alienation, ambivalence, and growth. Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan are the preeminent architects here, and I borrow the architectural language and ornamentation from the Harold Washington Library and the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District. Geometric style plants and windy city men are used in my drawings to signal the setting,
Direct observational paintings of fruit started as a way to help me paint looney birds in undergrad, and I chose bananas because they looked like their beaks. The practice of painting the bananas became much more fulfilling and I stopped painting the birds. This practice was also an application of studio classes in art school, setting up a still life and finishing a painting in 3 hours. This became a time of concentration and practice.
When I get into a good session it feels like I’m playing my favorite song. I also paint pineapples but mainly bananas.
Assembling these panels into one object introduces my day job as a carpenter and cabinetmaker. Building frames with even reveals and custom panels is much more relaxing in my studio than on a dusty job site.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
406 E. State St. , Rockford, IL, United States, Illinois 61104
