About Page
Artist Statement
Ryan Shultz
Artist Statement
My recent work consists of paintings of people engaged in their everyday routine. Within this body, there is a small series I have begun called Smoking Section Kids, which should be differentiated from the rest of my paintings. These deal specifically with the smoking section ethos which is manifested in the attitude, actions, and attire of the youths who religiously attend late-night diners like Dennys, every night, across America. Outside of composition and setting, the most significant difference between these works and the rest of my corpus is in the titling, which I will address at the end of my statement.
In regards to my work as a whole, my artistic impetus stems from what I call the voyeuristic people-watching aesthetic. When I encounter another person, I am fascinated by their body language and the idiosyncratic traits which make them who they are. In watching them, I ask myself questions about their thoughts and concerns; the hidden, psychological world which manifests itself in the way they sit, slouch, stare out of the corner of their eyes. This is what I want the viewer to think about when they approach one of my paintings.
I want the viewer to feel as if they are coming across another human being; as if they just stepped into a room and are still unnoticed by the subject, who is absorbed in their activity. Or, to use Degas analogy, it is as if the viewer were looking through a keyhole. By having the viewer unacknowledged by the subject, I am in a sense, negating the viewers existence, while simultaneously having them participate. This accounts for the fact that I never have viewer-subject eye contact.
When making my work I am most concerned with creating the feeling of physical presence that is, the feeling that one is looking at another human being. Because this presence is essential, I paint my subjects life size and aim for the highest level of visual veracity, without losing the character of the paint. I do not try to copy with the exactitude of a photorealist who avoid surface texture and duplicate the focus and blur created by a cameras lens but instead try to utilize the many effects one can achieve with the oil medium. In applying my technique, I create a variegated surface, combining thick impastos and semitransparent passages with overlying glazes. It is a balance between creating the corporeal feeling of flesh and making the paint assert itself as it actually is, paint.
In arranging my compositions, I try to place my subjects in the modern world, while utilizing the Old Masters commitment to naturalism. My subjects are placed in contemporary settings, wearing contemporary clothing, and most importantly, they have the unguarded appearance particular to modern paintings. Subjects of the past were painted as if they knew they had an artists eye upon them. I prefer naturalism to flattery. I also choose to frame my compositions in nontraditional ways, sometimes focusing on just a set of hands or cropping off the top of a head.
Although I am concerned with the specific features and details of a given subject, for most of my works (slides 4-20), I did not give the name of the individual in the titling. The titles given only disclose the information apparent to one coming across the work for the first time, making the viewing of one of my paintings much like the experience encountered by the solitary, people-watching aesthete. This leaves much of the interpretation of the painting up to the viewer. This way, if I use family members or friends as subjects, the viewer will not mistakenly assume that my work is about my family or friends.
However, with the paintings in the Smoking Section Kids series I have intentionally given titles. Not only do I know the models within the paintings, but they know each other, intimately. For them, Dennys is a secular church, a social club, a support group; in short, a family. Because most of them do not have a closely knit biological family, they congregate in a place where they will find sympathetic ears and persons of similar backgrounds. I have chosen to title the individual works within the Smoking Section series in order to construct a family portrait.
Whether I am painting an anxiety stricken girl in a bathroom or a member of the late-night diner crowd, I want the viewer to make a confrontation; feeling close enough to touch the subject, yet all the while, wondering why they are there in the first place.
Exhibitions
10/09/2005
Granbury, Texas
9th Annual Rio Brazos Art Exhibition
09/11/2005
Indianapolis, Indiana
SALI National Fine Art Exhibition
08/27/2005
The Old Court House - Woodstock Illinois
Real People 2005
09/10/2005
Bosque Conservatory of Art - Clifton Texas
20th Annual Conservatory Art Classic
08/05/2005
Norcross, GA
Art Kudos International Art Competition
07/26/2005
Nicolet College-Rhinelander Wisconsin
18th Annual Northern National Art Competition
08/12/2005
Madison, Georgia
2005 Madison National Juried Show
07/08/2005
Mableton, Georgia
18th National Juried Art Exhibition-South Cobb Arts Alliance
06/10/2005
Wilmette, Illinois
Friends of the Wilmette Library Annual Juried Exhibit - Winner 1st Place
07/15/2005
Cooperstown, New York
70th Annual National Exhibition of the Cooperstown Art Association
6/6/2005
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts; Boone, NC
Halpert Biennial 05 Visual Arts Competition
5/3-6/3/05
Plano, Texas
Plano Art Assoc 2005 Natl Juried Exhibit
May 2005
Schmidt Art Center-Belleville Illinois- Winner Governors Purchase Award $1000
2005 Annual Collegiate Artists Competition
2005
Winner $500 Scholarship
OPA Shirl Smithson 2005 Scholarship
2004
Oklahoma City, OK
Stacey Scholarship 2nd Place Winner
11/12/2004
Arts Center of the Ozarks, Springdale Arkansas
10th Annual Fall Regional Art Exhibition
10/01/2004
Grayslake, Illinois
CLC Recent Works 2004
10/03/2003
College of Lake County, Grayslake, Illinois
23rd Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artist
11/17/2003
Fayetteville, Ar
Artists of NW Arkansas 9th Annual Fall Regional Art Exhibit-
01/02/2004
Kenosha Wisconsin
2004 Winter Juried Exhibit-Anderson Arts Center
01/18/2004
Becker Hall, Grant Alabama
Winterfest 2004 9th Annual Juried Fine Art Exhibit
02/07/2004
Charlotte County Art Guild, Punta Gorda, Florida
Charlotte Countys 4th National Art Exhibit
03/20/2004
Masur Museum of Art, Monroe LA
Masur Museum of Arts 31st Annual Juried Competition
03/06/2004
Merriam Kansas
8th Annual Heartland Artist Exhibition
04/01/2004
Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois
Municipal Art League of Chicago Juried Exhibit
05/21/2004
Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland Washington
13th Annual Natinal Juried Exhibit of the Oil Painters of America
04/20/2004
Plano Texas
2004 National Juried Exhibition-Plano Texas
03/01/2004
American Academy of Art, Chicago, Illinois
American Academy of Art Spring Student Exhibit
05/04/2004
Illinois State University Gallery, Normal Illinois
2004 Annual Collegiate Arts Competition
06/28/2004
Chicago, Illinois
Union League Civic and Arts Foundation-Chicago
7/09/2004
Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, Maryland
Maryland Federation of Art-Go Figure
07/27/2004
Nicolet College, Rhinelander, Wisconsin
2004 Northern National Art Competition
09/12/2004
Jasper Arts Center, Jasper Indiana
11th Annual Juried Art Exhibit-Jasper Arts Center
09/11/2004
Bosque Conservatory of Art Clifton Texas
19th Annual Conservatory Art Classic-Bosque Conservatory of Art
10/15/2004
Chicago, Illinois
Illinois Institute of Art Purchase Awards Exhibit