Ricky Swallow

Ricky Swallow (born 1974 in San Remo, Victoria , Australia ) is an artist. He represented Australia in 2005 at the Biennale in Venice .

Life

Swallow was born in San Remo , Victoria , Australia in 1974 and now lives and works in London / GB after having moved to Los Angeles / USA. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Art in the field of drawing at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in 1997 from. In 2001 he taught part time at the VCA. Swallow has had a large number of solo and group exhibitions in New Zealand, Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles, Oslo San Francisco, Paris, Copenhagen, New York, Cardiff, Brisbane, Canberra, Helsinki, London, Ghent and Venice.

His work

Swallow is known for its scaled-down model worlds on slowly moving turntables; and replicas of (superfluous?) technologies and time icons such as iMac and Darth Vader . He worked with cardboard , PVC , rubber . He was there to manufacture models , miniatures, replicas, copies, diagrams and mementos. The artist dealt with the remnants of the recent past, which has decisively shaped him.

The inevitable passage of time and the lifespan of things are re-emerging themes in Ricky Swallow's work. For over a decade he has been making 1: 1 realizations of objects that are under the influence of time. Through the elaborate sculptures that he carves out of wood, he receives things at a certain moment. Swallow makes these things immortal before they can actually become.

Ricky Swallow runs through time using historical models and modern widespread symbols all at once. The end result broadens our understanding of the venerable role of sculpture and the permanence of objects .

Quotes about his work

• "If our civilization were turned upside down and subsequently this gallery were excavated, what would the remnants reveal? Would the forms prove that the subject was evolving, devolving or just coming around again?" (Swallow in Nicholson 1999a)

• "More recently I have been working with the idea of ​​desire, the models, particularly the replicas being a model of certain desires. The Telescope is maybe the best example of this. I consider my process as taking things out of time, transforming objects / narrative into a study or inquiry about itself. "

Selected solo exhibitions

• 2005 This Time Another Year , Venice
• 2004 Killing Time, Sydney; Melbourne
• 2003 Field Recordings, Tokyo
• 2002 Tomorrow in Common, New York | Wooden Problem, Los Angeles | A Sculpture Now, Melbourne
• 2001 For Those Who Came in Late, Berkeley Art Museum, University of California
• 2000 Plastruct, Los Angeles | Unplugged, Sydney | Above Ground Sculpture, Wellington | Individual Ape, Oslo

Selected group exhibitions

• 2005 Getting Emotional, Boston
• 2004 Strange Weather, London | The Ten Commandents, Dresden
• 2003 Still Life, Melbourne | The Fourth Sex.Adolescent Extremes, Florence | Extended play-Art Remixing Music, New Plymouth | Wonderland, Auckland
• 2002 Remix: Contemporary Art and Pop, Liverpool
• 2001 Utopia / ROR, Helsinki; Keel; Stockholm

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ozarts - Ricky Swallow. (No longer available online.) Ozarts, archived from the original on July 9, 2007 ; Retrieved September 18, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.