Cordy Ryman, Window Box, 2010 | Acrylic and enamel on wood, 54 x 52 x 5 inches. Copyright the artist, Courtesy Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, DC.
Windowboxing, New York-based artist Cordy Ryman’s first solo show in Washington, DC at Conner Contemporary Art, is deceptively rustic. Ryman’s modular work is composed of metal, Velcro, and scraps of wood recycled from the artist’s studio floor. The ragged domesticity of the reused materials is interrupted by the hard edges of the repurposed wood blocks and by the artist’s systematic use of neon hues. Responding to the geometric shapes of his media, Ryman alternates between meticulous order and seemingly random arrangements, often blurring the line between the two.
The perception of texture and changing relief is also important in many of Ryman’s pieces. The work in Windowboxing unpretentiously straddles the space between painting and sculpture. Like his father, acclaimed artist Robert Ryman (who had his first solo show in Washington, DC just last year at The Philips Collection), Cordy ruminates on the color white, not only as it pertains to the surfaces of his work but also as it interacts with the adjacent surfaces of the gallery walls. More pics after the jump. —Matthew Smith, DC contributor
Cordy Ryman, Windowboxing, 2010 | Acrylic and enamel on wood, dimensions variable. Copyright the artist, Courtesy Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, DC.
(detail) Windowboxing, 2010 | Acrylic and enamel on wood, dimensions variable. Copyright the artist, Courtesy Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, DC.
Installation view, Scrap Wall, 2011. Copyright the artist, Courtesy Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, DC.
Installation view, Kamco Wave, 2011. Copyright the artist, Courtesy Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, DC.
Matthew Smith is an artist and writer in Washington, DC and a frequent contributor to DCist.
