In the weeks leading up to the opening of American Idolatry on October 29, we are interviewing the artists to learn more about their work.

Ryan Frank

Sharon, Connecticut

Ryan Frank is a Recession Art alum, having exhibited his work in What is the Where? at the Invisible Dog last year. He is a current artist-in-residence at the Wassaic Project and has exhibited his artwork and projects in various venues throughout New York City, upstate New York, and Connecticut. As a curator, he organized a series of pop-up exhibitions throughout NYC with the curatorial collective Ad Nauseam Lyceum from 2006-2009. Recent curatorial projects include Ode Hotel at the Wassaic Project, Used Books at the Winkleman Gallery Curatorial Research Lab, and Reflective Landscape at the Granary, a private exhibition space in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Beuys Pallet

Q: Tell us about your project for American Idolatry.
A: My recent work has transformed everyday objects into frames for exhibiting imagery.  For American Idolatry I will be exhibiting two pieces: a portrait of the artist Joseph Beuys made out of stacked shipping pallets and an image of a two-lane road displayed in a 10 foot ladder.  While these pieces are individual works I see them existing in tandem within the exhibition.
Beuys Pallet is one of several pieces I’ve done using shipping pallets as a frame for a photographic portrait — previous versions displayed images of blue-collar workers — and the image of Beuys in shipping pallets speaks to his universal influence and appeal.  These pallets, much like Beuys’ ideas of art, have traveled around the world for different purposes yet are united and interchangeable in their uniformity.

Stairway Vista at the Wassaic Project

The ladder piece came about by an interest in photographing the road and specifically from trying to capture the experience of driving — something which I greatly enjoy.  This past summer I made an installation for a stairway at the Wassaic Project which consisted of image of a cliff within the stairs, and I liked the idea of using an image that played with people’s physical relationship to the object.  The open road is a romantic idea in American culture, and placing this image in a ladder presents it as a challenge rather than something taken for granted.  The top of the ladder is also the horizon line where the road fades away, so it also speaks to the not knowing what lies in the future. Collectively, these two pieces present an interesting dichotomy — the ladder (an object made to be used by a person) is used to portray a road, while the shipping pallets (used as a tool of commerce and transport) are used to portray a human figure.

Hardware Store Curtain

Q: How does memorializing or ceremony work into your practice?
A: I consider much of my work to function as a monument to the figures portrayed within the objects. The store employee in an industrial curtain or the maintenance worker in shipping pallets are fitting monuments to these figures — while politicians or military generals are memorialized in bronze or marble, it makes sense that forgotten figures of labor be portrayed in materials of their trade.

Dumbo Labor Monument

Q: How can art convey remembrance? Will this be part of the work you present for American Idolatry?
A: I think all art portrays remembrance in one way or another, either through literal interpretations or through metaphors. The pallet piece does function as a memorial to Beuys, but I see it in a larger context of the creative process and presenting the artist as a worker or laborer. The ladder piece does not convey remembrance in the traditional sense (as a memorial), but in making the piece I am trying to present an image that most people see quite regularly, but don’t consider its significance or beauty.

Apartment Entry Door at Recession Art’s What is the Where?

Q: What do you want the audience to take away from your work? What do you take away from it?
A: I hope my work will make the viewer look at the objects and images I’ve used in a new light. For me, I first think of an object that would make an interesting frame and then pair it with an image. I see it a lot like working in a frame shop, but having endless options. The goal is always to have the object and image work in tandem and reveal something about each other. When it works well, the juxtaposition can be very powerful, and it’s great to see those combinations come together.

Visit Ryan Frank’s website.

American Idolatry will show October 29 to November 6 at the Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn.