Ryan Mrozowski
2011
The Enthusiasts, 2010, acrylic on canvas over panel, 42 x 50 in.
Sharp Shooters, 2010, acrylic on cnavas over panel, 42 x 50 in.
Examining the Skeletons, 2007, acrylic on panel, 22 x 24 in.
Night Drawers, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 27 inches
Skirmish, 2010, acrylic on canvas over panel, 48 x 60 in.
Bird Test, 2008, acrylic on panel, 24 x 22 in.
Cascade, 2010, acrylic on canvas over panel, 24 x 30 in.
Dead Mens Float, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 11 by 13 in.
The Arrangement, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 19 by 17 in.
Moth Hands, 2010, acrylic on canvas over panel, 17 x 15 in.
In my paintings I depict crowds of figures gathered in the pursuit of knowledge and entertainment. My work is about the effort to understand our world through the various lenses of history, spirituality, science, music, horror films, consumerism, video games, theater productions, sports, literature, etc. Above all I am interested in a life lived vicariously.
Regard this: That there was never a moment when there is not some comet in the sky. Virtually there is no year in which several new comets are not discovered, so plentiful are they. Luminous fleas on a vast black dog – in popular impressions, there is no realization of the extent to which this solar system is flea-bitten. (Charles Fort, 1919)
Fort, considered a crackpot by many, was a collector of miscellanea and unexplained phenomena. He juxtaposed unrelated data and proposed all kinds of theories for phenomena that scientists discarded when it did not fit conveniently into experimentation; not so much because he believed his own theories, but because he wanted to reveal the cracks in scientific positivism and suggest alternate possibilities.
In a similar way, Mrozowski gathers seemingly unrelated imagery to propose all kinds of strange scenarios. In his paintings we see that mysterious events are happening, that something is happening, but we don’t quite know what and we cannot / have no means to explain it. To appreciate them, we must accept the discomfort their strangeness and our condition of unknowing imposes. “Realities collapse in tableau after tableau. The carnivalesque meets the athletic, which collides with the academic. Gravity competes against the absurd.” (Leah Ollman, 2008)
Artist Bio
Born 1981, Pennsylvania, lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Education: 2005 MFA, Painting. Pratt Institute; 2003 BFA, Painting. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Robert E Cook Honors College. Solo Exhibitions: 2010 – Luminous Fleas, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY. April-May; 2008 – Arm In Arm With the Empty Spirit, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY. January; The Refrain, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Ryan Mrozowski at Pierogi Gallery
Ryan Morozwski at Daniel Weinberg Gallery
Chris Al-Aswad (1979 - 2010)
Chris's family sincerely thanks all who have continued to visit and contribute to EIL. While Chris is irreplaceable, we will do our best to maintain his site. Any donations would supplement our effort to keep the exceptional quality of EIL.
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Chuck Bloom I am a thinker and a visionary. I am hopeful and curious and apocalyptic. I am alone in this place and I am trying to find my own answers, this is why I paint what I do. And, my art will never match a couch.
