Young artist makes his mark in Memphis

Artist Ryan VenderLey's "Neo-Plastic Age."

Ryan VanderLey admits that the title of his exhibition at L. Ross Gallery — “Ice Hockey Is for Abstract Painters Who Are Tired of Defending Formalism” — is both challenge and joke. Since he is 25 and a good-natured sort, it’s not surprising that gauntlets thrown down in the dust might come cloaked in jest.

“Part of it is a joke that goes back to one of my friends from undergraduate days,” said VanderLey, who will receive his master of fine arts degree from the University of Memphis in April. “And part of it reflects the conversation between abstraction and realism that takes place within me every day.”

Artist Ryan VenderLey's "Neo-Plastic Age."

VanderLey is originally from Michigan, and attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids.

“Ice Hockey” is VanderLeys first solo exhibition in Memphis. “I’m actually kind of excited to see how the scale of the largest painting plays with the scale of the smaller paintings,” he said. “It was really important to me that the environment of the painting interact with the other work. The gallery is very museum-like, and there’s plenty of space around the paintings.”

The largest painting that VenderLey refers to is Bacchus, which at a monumental 8 by 12 feet gets a major wall in the front room to itself.

Asked if the gallery had ever displayed a work of this mammoth size before, owner Linda Ross laughed. “Not by a long shot,” she said. “I’ve hung some big paintings before, but nothing like this. It looks magnificent.”

Ross first met VanderLey when the tall, lanky artist walked into her gallery about three years ago, wearing shorts and flip-flops, and asked to show her some drawings.

“You know how it is,” she said. “They come in and you don’t expect anything good and want to use the right words to turn them down, but Ryan’s work was beautiful.” Ross included two pieces in a late summer group show.

She described her attraction to VanderLeys abstract paintings first as a matter of what she called his mark-making, the sheer act of putting a mark on canvas or paper, which, in a way, is how artists make their presence known to the world. Then, she said, “It’s his confidence, so rare in a young painter. And he has an interesting color palette. To use a color like pink in an abstract painting and make it work is remarkable.

We mustn’t forget, however, that VanderLey also makes realistic work, a stance that may seem contradictory in an art world that views style as a statement of philosophy, if not ideology.

“The realistic work is how I talk to myself about the abstract work,” said the artist. “My abstract paintings are from the heart, but the realistic work is from my head. They infuse each other back and forth. I can’t do one body of work without the other. The realistic provides a narrative for the feeling of the process of the abstraction.”

VanderLeys plans following graduation will come as no surprise. In May he is moving to Brooklyn to live and work with a couple of artist friends from undergraduate school. How will he make a living? The answer to that is also not a surprise: “Good question,” he said.

Ryan VanderLey: “Ice Hockey Is for Abstract Painters Who Are Tired of Defending Formalism”

On display through March 30 at L. Ross Gallery, 5040 Sanderlin, Suite 104. Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 767-2200.

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