STUDIO TRACKS | ART INFO

Studio Tracks: Ryan Wallace’s Playlist

BY SCOTT INDRISEK | OCTOBER 23, 2014
Studio Tracks: Ryan Wallace’s Playlist
Ryan Wallace at Susan Inglett Gallery, where his solo show opens on October 23.
(Courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC.)

Ryan Wallace is a fervent believer in recycling. “These paintings began a few years ago by using what was left in my studio from making other bodies of work — the parts that were redacted from those pieces but I still saw some value in,” he told ARTINFO, in advance of his solo exhibition of paintings and sculptures, “Slo Crostic,” opening October 23 at Susan Inglett Gallery. “I moved from the wall in front of me on to the floor in order to give up my tendency to tighten up my compositions and to be able to work with more unwieldy detritus. As I ran out of what I considered ‘useful’ material, I had to look for ways for marks and textures to accumulate without faking it. I experimented with concrete and plaster, which are inherently messy: buckets overflowed; compounds fell onto screens and castoff strips of canvas, Mylar, vinyl screens, and paper; and textures and surfaces naturally began to accumulate on their own accord again.” The result is a material collage, partially informed by chance. “I basically haven’t thrown anything out since January,” Wallace said. “All of the work acts as marker of my time in the studio.”

Here, the artist — who is also one of the keen-eyed principles behind Halsey McKay Gallery in East Hampton, New York — shares his studio playlist.