Mark Ryden: Cámara de las maravillas

by Mark Ryden

Pop surrealist Mark Rydens work is characterised by doll-faced figures, anatomical models, stuffed animals, religious ephemera, Americana kitsch, and copious amounts of meat. Published with his first retrospective exhibition in Europe, at the CAC Málaga, this catalogue reproduces numerous of his canvases, along with several sculptures, in an attempt to summarise and clarify his complex and unsettling world. The Los Angeles artists meticulously detailed and embellished paintings reflect an oeuvre which fluctuates between the enigmatic and the beautiful pictorial fantasies with a clear juxtaposition of childhood innocence and the mysterious and dark corners of the soul.

178 pages, Hardcover

Published December 16, 2016

About the author

Blending themes of pop culture with techniques reminiscent of the old masters, Mark Ryden has created a singular style that blurs the traditional boundaries between high and low art. His work first garnered attention in the 1990s when he ushered in a new genre of painting, "Pop Surrealism", dragging a host of followers in his wake. Ryden has trumped the initial surrealist strategies by choosing subject matter loaded with cultural connotation.

Ryden’s vocabulary ranges from cryptic to cute, treading a fine line between nostalgic cliché and disturbing archetype. Seduced by his infinitely detailed and meticulously glazed surfaces, the viewer is confronted with the juxtaposition of the childhood innocence and the mysterious recesses of the soul. A subtle disquiet inhabits his paintings; the work is achingly beautiful as it hints at darker psychic stuff beneath the surface of cultural kitsch. In Ryden's world cherubic girls rub elbows with strange and mysterious figures. Ornately carved frames lend the paintings a baroque exuberance that adds gravity to their enigmatic themes.

Mark Ryden received a BFA in 1987 from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. His paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, including a retrospective “Wondertoonel” at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle and Pasadena Museum of California Art, and in the exhibition "The Artist's Museum" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles.