Mike Ryczek

I see each of my paintings as a dense collection of layered missteps guided by a single underlying intention. In most of my work, I’m attempting a semi-realistic interpretation of an imagined environment, employing realism and abstraction in a way that gives the impression of a scene on the verge of collapse. The photographic source material I use serves as both a jumping off point and something to fight against. I try to glean from the source only that which resonates with me and dispose of the rest so as to avoid slavish depiction. The ideal result is a faint echo or a total reconstruction of what is observed, anchored by recurring themes of nostalgia, my own existential anxieties and the corruption of human memory. I view the painting process as a form of self-examination – the end product’s value lying in the thoughts, emotions and memories I’ve projected onto the objective source.

Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA / BFA / 2006

SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2022 Personal Space / w Chen Peng, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA

2020 Fascination Street, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA

2014 Distant Relatives, Newton Free Library, Newton, MA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 Sci Fi Show / curated by Scott Listfield, Gallery1988 @ Exhibit A Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2023 Plenty 16th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA

2023 13Forest at 444, Gallery 444, Provincetown, MA

2023 As Luck Would Have It, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA

2023 Artrageous!37 Annual Auction, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA

2022 Plenty 15th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA

2022 Contemporary Color / juried by Chloe Wyma, SITE : BROOKLYN, Brooklyn, NY

2021 Plenty 14th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA

2021 Contemporary Art Survey / juried by Zoey Frank, The Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO

2021 13Forest at 444, Gallery 444, Provincetown, MA

2021 13th Annual National Exhibition / juried by Sangram Majumdar, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY

2021 Mall Dayz, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, CA

2021 Disrupted Realism / juried by John Seed, Buckham Gallery, Flint, MI

2021 MassArt Auction 2021, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Bos...