After exhibiting in Europe during the first covid scare, Perth artist Ryck Rudd began painting a series of local townscapes inspired by the eerily-quiet yet rapidly-changing world of 2020.

"Perth seemed to freeze in time during the first lockdown. After two weeks in quarantine, I walked outside to buy my own groceries... and you would think everyone had all perished overnight. The whole town felt abandoned. The parks, the schools, and every local business: empty, ghostly and silent. Just the wind and the trees and the birds. It was uncanny but it was very tranquil. It felt like the new world -- whatever it would be -- was approaching.

"These oil paintings are a meditation on my experiences in the suburbs of Perth during the first big covid scare."

-The Seasonal Brewing Co.

For one month artist Ryck Rudd will utilize impoverished materials and their disposability to create a clumsy world of cardboard sculptures and drawings on paper.

For his own unflattering creation myth Rudd will tell an adult-themed fantastical story of sex and distress.

Songs of Pan features the artist's first exploration into sculpture and installation. All are welcome to visit throughout.

This month-long open-studio project will culminate in a closing night exhibition with tasty morsels and drinks.

Rudd is represented by Emanuel von Baeyer London.

Photograph courtesy of Nick Fitzpatrick

WORTHLESS REFUSE II describes both the worship and fear of the opposite sex. To better situate these feelings in paint, Rudd has researched the historical wealth of erotic art, from the graffiti of Pompeii, to the Shunga of Edo Japan, to the underground Comix scene of 1960s America; and pits it against its antithesis in Medieval art, with its fantastical illustrations of religious Judgement against self-indulgence.

The discomforting nature of Rudd’s art, which occasionally confronts or simply re-enacts real-world taboos, categorizes his practice within the Zapffean space of “sublimation”, wherein creative individuals mediate specific existential fears and instincts as alternatives to potentially destructive outlets. Sublimation concerns itself directly with existentially difficult issues from a safe distance, “As works in which the worst fortunes of humanity are presented in a stylized and removed manner as entertainment”.

Fungal Fetus from Blue Panties (2019) Oil on canvas, 38 H x 76 W x 2 D (cm)

EVENT DETAILS

KEEP IN TOUCH!

        ​Ryck Rudd - The Mess is a collaborative exhibition between Emanuel von Baeyer and Vardaxoglou, presenting recent paintings and works on paper by Australian artist Ryck Rudd (b. 1991 in Perth, Australia). 

This exhibition of Ryck Rudd's works is part of Emanuel von Baeyer's ongoing interest in young artists whose work is ready to be unveiled. Emanuel von Baeyer and Vardaxoglou were drawn to Rudd because he is a truly classical artist - studied and consistent with an excellent sense of colour and evocative style and subject-matter. Indirect influence in the colour schemes of the late 19th century Les Nabis artists like Vuillard, Bonnard and Denis is evident, but he has singular imagery which places firmly in the present. 

Included in our exhibition are paintings and drawings from three of his recent series; Capriccio!, Sons of Pan and Worthless Refuse.

       Emanuel von Baeyer London was founded in 1998 and has since been firmly established as a leading representative of the younger generation of old master dealers. Emanuel von Baeyer deals principally in fine European drawings, prints and paintings from the fifteenth through the twentieth century. They also handle select postwar and contemporary art, showing interest in both established and emerging artists. His clientele includes older and younger generations of private collectors, art historians and museum curators from institutions around the world. He is now widely recognised as an innovative dealer within his field and has published numerous specialist sales catalogues. 

Emanuel von Baeyer regularly participates in the London Original Print Fair, Frieze Masters London, Master Drawings Week in London and New York, IFPDA Print Fair New York, Antiquarian Booksellers Associations (ABA), TEFAF, Maastricht and Stuttgarter Antiquariatsmesse. He is also a member of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). He has held exhibitions in various galleries in Munich, Berlin and New York.