Ryan Swanson

Artist Information

Born: 1980, Syracuse, NY
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information:
rrswans (at) gmail (dot) com
ryanswansonart.com

Medium(s) Worked in:
Photography
Mixed-media
Installation
Interdisciplinary

Artist CV:
Download file

HPAC Exhibitions

2006, Material Science

Artist Statement

I find material for my collages from fashion magazines, advertising, and other photographic sources. Through the re-editing processes of cutting and Photoshop, I seek to break the implicit hierarchies of our natural and social
orders. The result of re-organizing the common relationships between clothing, bodies, furniture, and spaces, prompts a newfound perception of the ordinary. I conduct scenes whereby objects and people behave in unexpected ways. Commodities flirt with fractioned bodies in an eerily sensual way. Precious goods secrete bodily forms; limbs accrete into polymorphous structures reminiscent of furniture; the figure penetrates the ground; the ground digests the figure.

Through the re-editing processes of cutting and Photoshop, I seek to break the implicit hierarchies of our natural and social orders.

Artist Bio

Ryan Swanson is a visual artist based in Chicago IL. He creates digital prints and sculptural installations based on appropriations from fashion magazines, hardware stores and various alleys throughout Chicago. Ryan earned his BFA in painting from Savannah College of Art and Design and his MFA through the Fiber and Material Studies Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Ryan has recently shown work at the Chicago Cultural Center as part of the “happiness I seek” exhibition curated by three walls gallery, at the 18th Evanston and Vicinity Biennale, Gallery Uno, and Booster and Seven Gallery. Ryan also currently is teaches design full time at Westwood College.

Press & Publications

2006
“Widespread Manic,” Time Out Chicago. Issue no. 57 p70
Review, Bad at Sports. Episode no.29
Review, Fnews Magazine. April 06 issue.
Cover Image, Hyde Park Art Center Newsletter. Winter 06 issue
Image, Chicago Reader. March 10, 2006 p25
Image, SAIC Graduate Catalog
2005
“Wicker Park’s Fourth Wave,” New City. June 23, 05 p19
Exhibition Catalog, “The Art of Artist Statments.” Hellenic Museum
Exhibition Catalog, “Gimmi Some of That.” Gallery 1926

Teaching Experience

Westwood College
Full Time Professor of Graphic Design, 2005-Present
Undergraduate Visual Communications Program

Hyde Park Arts Center
Instructor, 2005-Present
Adult Community Art Classes
“50 pieces of Art in 150 minutes Workshop” syllabus to come…

Computer Training Source
Instructor, 2004-2005
Professional Workshops

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Teaching Assistant, 2003-2004

Copyright © 2006 A:LIST.

Hyde Park Art Center