‘Duets’: Creative Pas de Deux
Will Ryan has had a few rough years, but even though the physical toll of his rare blood disease is still evident in his reed-thin physique, the vitality of his spirit is obvious.
Some 18 months have passed since his stem cell transplant, and he has emerged with a renewed sense of purpose and gratitude for the support of his friends and family and the artistic community of the East End, whether they be artists, poets, musicians, or photographers.
“I got so much love and compassion,” he said last week in his intensely light-filled studio on the top floor of his house in Amagansett. He wanted to channel the energy into a collaborative endeavor to mark his recovery and celebrate the community that helped him. “I wanted to make art about joy, compassion, and gratitude. I said, ‘If you come in with some dark shit, I’m painting over it.’ ”
The results will be displayed at the White Room Gallery in Bridgehampton beginning this weekend. “Duets” will feature unique artwork made by Mr. Ryan with some of his friends. The work often had its genesis with him, but then others gave him pieces that he manipulated or reimagined through his own viewpoint and aesthetic.
A portion of the proceeds from the exhibition will benefit Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where Mr. Ryan was treated.
There will be photographic works like the Polaroid he made with Pipi Lane and the photo tapestry he worked on with John Messinger, a friend and protégé. “We worked days on laying it out,” until they found a composition that pleased them. Although Mr. Messinger recently moved to Los Angeles, he is returning for the show’s opening on Saturday. “We already decided we want to work more together.”
For a Steve Joster composite image of Keith Richards mounted on a pristine white ground, Mr. Ryan coated one of his car’s tires with blue paint and actually drove over one side. Scott Bluedorn took one of Mr. Ryan’s vertical motifs and returned it with a horizontal seascape composition of boats on a roiling sea, choosing to see a series of waves in Mr. Ryan’s painting.
The exhibition will include two-sided paintings, gold leaf applications on his own work and the work of others, steel sculpture, watercolors, prints, and more. With Gabriele Raacke, he painted the center of her glass plates, something he had never done before. He spent hours on it, reapplying the image until he figured out how to make it work.
“We had no rules. I would say, ‘Take a look at this. Would you want to work on this?’ ” Artists would take paintings of his that he had started or give him things that he could use as a beginning of a new piece. Some he worked on simultaneously with other artists, others were passed back and forth over a series of weeks or months.
Eric Ernst gave him an old painting, and Mr. Ryan cut it into the shape of a serpent and mounted it on a wooden support painted blue. He said he liked the metaphor of a snake shedding its skin.
He plans to work on further duets in art, music, and text. “I’m liking the interchange and a certain letting-go of ego,” he said. “We’re taking it to a place that we never would have gone without the mutual inspiration.”
Some 30 artists have helped him create the works for the show, which will be on display starting with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday. It will be a celebration of art, but also of survival.
“I feel so on fire creatively with this,” Mr. Ryan said. “I have the feeling we’re in a playground, and, in this case, I have the ball.”