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Opening tomorrow, July 18th at Ed Varie Gallery, NYC is a two-person show “Leisure Time”, an exhibition loosely and ironically based around the ideas and actions of how we as a culture and population, past, present or future; spend our leisure time. Ryan De La Hoz and Riley Payne are brought together from opposite ends of the world, encouraged to work individually, unaware of what the other has been creating, bring seven new works to Ed. Varie. “Leisure Time” is a serendipitous experiment in black and white, and color.

 

 

Ryan De La Hoz, Gash, 2013, Mixed Media Sculpture, dimensions vary. Courtesy of the gallery.

Ryan De La Hoz, Gash, 2013, Mixed Media Sculpture, dimensions vary. Courtesy of the gallery.

 

In this new body of work Ryan De La Hoz appropriates symbolic objects from past and present to open a dialogue as well as dissect new and old ideals of our culture and humanity in general. Soft cotton fabric is custom printed to mimic a  marble slab, an homage to classicism, and then spotted with Americana patches expressing apathy, dissent, and fear. Replicas of Diadoumenos, the famed Greek sculpture by Polykleitos representing the male figure in perfect harmony, are woven with a single electronic jump rope, bringing light to ever present self-conscious ideas of balance, masculinity, and self image. The well-loved Americana tie-dye motif, once a symbol of defiance of corporate culture, is borrowed and mated with a plastic replicas of an ancient statue heads acting as a visual commentary on the state of our union.

 

 

Riley Payne, Nude Beach, 2013, graphite & colored pencil on archival paper, 11 3/4 x 14 1/2 in.  Courtesy of the gallery.

Riley Payne, Nude Beach, 2013, graphite & colored pencil on archival paper, 11 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. Courtesy of the gallery.

 

Riley Payne works on labor-intensive versions of impulsive ways of altering ones own surroundings. Payne has collected a massive archive of mundane images that attract and repulse at the same time, an exploit of the seductive glaze of stock photography. Payne turns and renders a graphite drawing of these images and then pairs an unexpected drawn-in sculptural element, which for all intents and purposes, is a highly executed version of a quick doodle or phrase. In an otherwise tightly wound and time-consuming studio practice, these doodles present themselves as a reprieve and therapeutic element to Payne’s practice. The resulting combination of these discordant parts is not only to create the artwork as a whole, but also to encourage new readings of individual elements.

 

Ed. Varie is an independent gallery and bookstore in Alphabet City. Inspired by the fundamentals of open programming, Ed. Varie fosters all forms of contemporary art, and offers a platform for artists to explore new concepts and take uncharted risks in their practice. Opened in February 2010 under the guidance and support of founder Karen Schaupeter, Ed. Varie has become an anchor for emerging artists, and a home to the contemporary art community.  With a mission to bring artists in the early stages of their careers to the large and influential art market in Manhattan, Ed. Varie mentors and represents a wide range of artists, national and international; as well as maintains a beautiful and highly curated bookstore of limited edition art books from independent and micro-niche publishers.

 

Ed. Varie is an amazing space and if your in NYC we recommend you to make time to visit the space to see this exhibition as well as their bookstore full of limited edition print goods.

 

For more information visit here.