The artist and SVA alumnus talks about his abstract, irregularly shaped works
Ryan J. Brady (BFA 2012 Visual & Critical Studies), Racing Thoughts, 2020, acrylic paint, canvas, wood, aluminum and spray paint.
There’s an energy to the geometric work of Ryan J. Brady (BFA 2012 Visual & Critical Studies) that extends beyond the walls on which they are hung. Groups of shaped paintings come together to form larger compositions, with some revealing what he calls the “guts” of the work—the stretcher bars, staples and other usually hidden elements of a canvas. Brady considers his work a combination of painting and sculpture and hopes that the viewer won’t need a distinction between the two mediums, either.
“By rejecting the conservatism of the rectangle in favor of the freedom and unpredictability of shaped canvases,” he writes, “I incorporate the sculptural notions of form, fit and negative space that underpin my works’ larger formal identities.”
Visual Arts Journal recently spoke with Brady about his work, and the artist also recorded several short commentaries on his work, which appear below.
What sorts of projects have you been working on lately?
I’ve been revisiting some older ideas, from 2011, 2012. Back then I was making these ceramic relief sculptures that curved off of the wall. I unearthed those a couple of months ago and the thought hit me: There’s no reason I can’t turn this concept into paintings. And it’s been really fun. I know what I’m after, but I’m not sure how to realize it exactly.
I also recently started thinking about flags. I’ve been stretching, you know, hundreds of canvases, and it occurred to me that any fabric could be stretched over a canvas. And I thought there was some poetry in cutting up flags and stretching them. Not for the purpose of defacing them, but there is an element of just manipulating the flag that interested me. So I’ve completed one of those, and I have plans for a few more.
Other than that, I’ve been making these shaped paintings with groups of canvases that come together into larger compositions.
A lot of your work seems to be based on the importance of shapes and the energy of the spaces that they possess. Could you talk a little bit about your language of shapes?
I love what you said—“the energy of the spaces”—because when it comes to the painting component, the colors really are almost purely about their energy and exuberance.
My shapes are intentional—my impulses are to control and to be very deliberate—but I do make an effort to work in natural imperfections that are part of the process. For one, to subvert my own impulses. And two, because while we do experience artworks in their totality, we love the little imperfections or the quirks—like a freckle—that identify something as individual.
So that shows up in the gaps between the canvases, where you know they’re not seamless puzzles. They fit, but it’s not about perfection.
You’re sort of showing your hand?
Yes, exactly. I’m not having the pieces CNC cut or something. I’m doing it with the chop saw and making my angles. And there’s going to be imperfections.
Would you say your focus is on the works’ materiality?
I wouldn’t ever want to characterize my interest as just formal or materially based. Obviously, just dealing with abstract painting, you’re engaging with formalism. And in the formal sense, I think that they are paintings that have a lot to do with painting. They’re kind of like diagrams of what a painting is or an anatomical drawing of a painting or something.
But because they’re made of all these parts coming together, I also think about things like communities and families—different groups coming together to form a whole. That may not be hitting you in the face when you look at these works, but I personally carry these ideas in with me. ⦿
This interview has been condensed and edited.
Ryan J. Brady, James Webb Space Telescope, 2020, acrylic paint, canvas, wood, aluminum and spray paint.
Ryan J. Brady, An Imperfect Union, 2021, American flag, acrylic paint, canvas and wood.
Ryan J. Brady, If You’re Happy and You Know It It’s Your Meds, 2020, acrylic paint, canvas, wood, aluminum and spray paint.
Ryan J. Brady, Skin and Bones, 2020, acrylic paint, canvas, wood, aluminum and spray paint.
Ryan J. Brady, One Man Band, 2021, acrylic paint, canvas, wood, aluminum and spray paint.
Ryan J. Brady’s work has been exhibited in numerous two-person and group exhibitions in New York, Brooklyn and Miami. His public sculpture, Stacked Structure (2010), is currently on view at the Delanco Camp grounds in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. For more information, visit ryanjbrady.com.
Dan Halm (MFA 2001 Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 1994 Illustration) is an artist, independent curator and project manager for SVA External Relations. For more information, visit danhalm.com.
