Ryan Schneider: No Filter Eden

Ryan Schneider’s new radiant large-scale oil paintings vibrate with energy. Young nudes lounge and chill in a lush environment. A carefree seemingly paradisiacal setting rendered with precise gestural brush strokes in deep purples, blues and greens. The kind of environment that has attracted us since the dawn of mankind and still makes us travel long distances in the search for unspoiled experiences of pure, ironically, hopefully un-discovered by fellow man, encounters with nature. This motif has been pursued in art from Gauguin to Ryan McGinley and is a common pleasure on social media like Facebook and Instagram, although without the presence of offending female nipples or genitals in general.

As in the original paradise there is an apple in Schneider’s paradise. This one is backlit and connects us to universal knowledge in an instant. The cell phone, or personal device, as clever marketers will have us believe, glow in all of Schneider’s works. An object we have grown so accustomed to in our everyday life but still feels alien in a painting. It is there in the composition, reflecting and perfecting us and our surroundings. As an object the device disrupts the illusion of pristine nature and meditative presence. We are harshly reminded that now we often see the world through a lens and a screen, before we can begin to process it. We are so eager to register and share what we see, that we often forget to experience what we see. We journey into nature, walk into museums, concerts, parties, birthdays – all significant events in our lives with our phones raised and ready. In Schneider’s work the device reflects and projects. The nudes in the paintings photograph each other in intimate moments and take selfies to register their presence and existence. I see myself, therefore I am.

Ryan Schneider has no moral upper hand in this confident and alluring body of work. We see him in the paintings and on the painted screens. It is him and his friends and you and me. Reflected in reflections of contemporary life. And this is Schneider’s interest – strong contemporary painting – engaged in the mundane and the extraordinary. His works partakes in an ancient human tradition of depicting the human condition as experienced first-hand. From the caves in France and into the Californian desert we are connected as humans by painting. No Filter Eden harness a raw ancient energy. A rare painterly feat. A joy to experience. Phones down for a second.

Ryan Schneider, born 1980, Indianapolis, United States, currently lives and works in Joshua Tree, California. Living and working in the middle of a vast dessert changed Schneider’s life experience, perspective and output. Schneider holds a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. Recent solo exhibitions include Mojave Masks – Schneider Museum of Art, USA, Mojave Pictures – Taymour Grahne Gallery, USA, You Are Entering – Richard Heller Gallery, USA. On Danish ground Schneider was recently part of The Brask Collection meets Willumsen at JF Willumsens Museum, Denmark and Nude at V1 Gallery & Eighteen, Denmark. No Filter Eden is Ryan Schneider’s first solo exhibition with V1 Gallery. A publication will be available on occasion of the exhibition.

Kilde: V1 Gallery