AMoCA Collection Coercion, gunpowder, pigment, acrylic, wood, 70”x60”x14”, 2013
RAIR | 2012-13
Ryder Richards | Princeton, TX
Ryder Richards, born and raised in Roswell until the age of 16, has returned to Roswell as a RAiR fellow. Since receiving a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Texas Christian University he has taught art and directed art galleries. Currently gallery director and professor for Richland College in Dallas, Richards curates exhibitions, writes art reviews, and participates in several collaborative art groups as part of his arts practice.
While in Roswell Richards opened The Cube, an art gallery built inside his studio. Curating exhibits into the space for monthly art openings has provided an outlet for his curatorial disposition while offering a chance to engage in communal conversation.
“But inordinate ambitions are the soul of every patriotism, and the possibility of violent death the soul of all romance.” William James, The Moral Equivalent of War, 1906
“Men of God and men of war have strange affinities.” Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, 1985
In the dubious effort to culture himself Richards has traveled to Europe several times studying classical architecture and the art of various “old masters.” While retaining his affinity for these influences he has become increasingly interested in the “Culture of Honor” found in the southwest. The works in Conflicted combine elements of art and myth, decorative rifle engravings, and environmental structures as the possible purveyors of cultural disposition.
Roswell Museum and Art Center
Rair exhibition • Ryder Richards "Conflicted" • February 22 - April 7, 2013
