Tableau City
29 November—12 December
In his latest exhibition, Tableau City, Ryan Carter draws on his career as an actor and writer to explore his obsession with the intricate details that any given moment or thought can contain. The forensic nature of his medium inspires a near-clinical dissection of whatever is present within the layers, allowing these fleeting, pedestrian occurrences to warp, exaggerate, and pixelate into the fantastical. Chaotically bouncing between warm nostalgia and existential dread, the work creates a sensory overload of humorous, violent, sexy, wild, dull, uneasy, lonely, and joyous moments. These moments endlessly form and fade around us, reminding the viewer that perception is the only barrier separating the ordinary from something theatrical.
While the fantastical digital structures explore the anatomy of corner stores, inner-city streets, skyscrapers, and suburbia, the painted works focus on the anatomy of the body. Tableaus of moments trapped within veins and thoughts twist and spiral between control and chaos. Using paint to enhance the organic, mercurial nature of these inner moments.
In Tableau City, Carter captures the dichotomy of modern Western existence. We are all the main character, yet no one is. Every moment holds weight, yet no moment truly matters. Tableau City captures something expansive, in a tiny glass box.
