Editing Mark Ryden

{{short description|American painter (born 1963)}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Mark Ryden
| image = Mark ryden tree show 20070310 (cropped).jpg
| imagesize = 
| caption = Ryden in 2007
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|1|20|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Medford, Oregon]], U.S.
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| nationality = 
| field = [[Painting|Painter]]
| training = [[Art Center College of Design]]
| movement = 
| works = The Creatrix<br>Snow White<br>The Birth<br>The Parlor
| patrons = 
| awards = 
| website = {{official website}}
}}

'''Mark Ryden''' (born January 20, 1963) is an American [[Painting|painter]] who is considered to be part of the [[lowbrow (art movement)|Lowbrow]] (or pop surrealist) art movement.<ref name="New York Times - May 2010">{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Ken |date=6 May 2010 |title=Mark Ryden: 'The Gay 90s: Old Tyme Art Show' |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/arts/design/07galleries-003.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124850/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/arts/design/07galleries-003.html?_r=0 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was dubbed "the god-father of pop surrealism" by ''[[Interview (magazine)|Interview]]'' magazine.<ref name="Interview Magazine">[http://guestofaguest.com/tag/interview-magazine/ Interview Magazine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531204235/http://guestofaguest.com/tag/interview-magazine/ |date=2012-05-31 }}</ref> In 2015, [[Artnet]] named Ryden and his wife, painter [[Marion Peck]], the king and queen of Pop Surrealism.<ref name="Artnet Magazine">{{cite web|last=Kinsella |first=Eileen |url=https://news.artnet.com/people/la-art-power-couples-284815 |title=LA Art Power Couples |website=News.artnet.com |date=3 April 2015 |access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref>

Ryden has been described as a "relentless kitsch meister working in the tradition of Bosch, Dalí, and Little Golden Books"<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news|author=Grace Glueck |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/07/arts/art-in-review-mark-ryden-bunnies-and-bees.html?scp=2&sq=mark%20ryden&st=cse |title=ART IN REVIEW; Mark Ryden - 'Bunnies and Bees' |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=2001-12-07 |access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> and a master of Lowbrow style.<ref name="New York Times - May 2010" /> His work has been described as having a [[Pop surrealism|pop-surrealist]] style that contains a nightmarish quality.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Jason |date=February 19, 2019 |title="Whipped Cream" - Viennese Ballet and Pop Surrealism Meet Dark Medicine |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2725209 |journal=JAMA Network |volume=321 |issue=7 |pages=630–631 |doi=10.1001/jama.2018.19502 |pmid=30778581 |via=The Arts and Medicine|url-access=subscription }}</ref> His inspirations include "old children’s books, interesting product packages, toys, photographs, medical models, skeletons, shells, minerals, and religious statues."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Khorakiwala |first=Ameera |date=2016-02-24 |title=Undisturbed Mystery: Mark Ryden |url=https://impakter.com/mark-ryden/ |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Impakter |language=en-US}}</ref> His album and single artwork for musicians includes [[Aerosmith]]'s "[[Love in an Elevator]]" (1989), [[Michael Jackson]]'s ''[[Dangerous (Michael Jackson album)|Dangerous]]'' (1991), [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]]' ''[[One Hot Minute]]'' (1995), [[Tyler, the Creator]]'s ''[[Wolf (Tyler, the Creator album)|Wolf]]'' (2013).

==Biography==
===Early life===
Ryden was born in [[Medford, Oregon]] on January 20, 1963, to Barbara and Keith Ryden, and was raised in [[Southern California]].<ref name="Mark Ryden Biography">{{cite web|title=Mark Ryden Biography|url=http://www.markryden.com/biography/bio.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050402200317/http://www.markryden.com/biography/bio.html|archive-date=April 2, 2005}}</ref> His father was a painter who also restored and customized cars.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.markryden.com/press/archive/latimes-jan4-2002/index.html |title=Mark Ryden |website=Markryden.com |access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> He has two sisters and two brothers: his brother Keyth is also an artist and works under the name KRK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.krkland.com/biography/index.html |title=KRK Ryden &#124; Biography Page One |website=Krkland.com |date=1953-03-04 |access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref><ref name="Wondertoonel Exhibition Book">{{Cite web |url=http://www.porterhouseart.com/v/arch/books/wondertoonel.html |title=Porterhouse Fine Art Editions |access-date=2012-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531212148/http://www.porterhouseart.com/v/arch/books/wondertoonel.html |archive-date=2014-05-31 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ryden graduated from the [[Art Center College of Design]] in [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]] in 1987.

===Early career (1988–1998)===
From 1988 to 1998, Ryden worked as a commercial artist. During this period, he created album covers for prominent musicians, including [[Danger Danger]]’s debut [[Danger Danger (album)|eponymous album]]; [[Warrant (American band)|Warrant]]'s debut album ''[[Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich]]''; [[Michael Jackson]]'s ''[[Dangerous (Michael Jackson album)|Dangerous]]''; the [[4 Non Blondes]]' ''[[Bigger, Better, Faster, More!]]''; the [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]]' ''[[One Hot Minute]]''; [[Scarling.]]’s ''[[Sweet Heart Dealer]]'' and their alternative vinyl cover of ''[[So Long, Scarecrow]]''; [[Jack Off Jill]]'s ''[[Clear Hearts Grey Flowers]]''; the [[Screaming Trees]]' ''[[Uncle Anesthesia]]''; [[Marcy Playground]]'s ''[[Shapeshifter (Marcy Playground album)|Shapeshifter]]''; and [[Aerosmith]]'s "[[Love in an Elevator]]". He also created book covers, including the [[Stephen King]] novels ''[[Desperation (novel)|Desperation]]'' and ''[[The Regulators (novel)|The Regulators]]''. In 1994, [[Robert Williams (artist)|Robert Williams]] featured Ryden's work on the cover of ''[[Juxtapoz]]'', a magazine devoted to "lowbrow art", which helped launch Ryden to greater success.<ref name="Wondertoonel Exhibition Book"/><ref name="Daily Beast">{{cite news|author=Anthony Haden-Guest |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/04/29/ages-of-enchantment.html |title=The King of Old-time Kitsch |newspaper=The Daily Beast |date=29 April 2010 |access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref>

===Exhibitions and major projects (1998–present)===
==== The Meat Show ====

Ryden's solo debut show entitled "The Meat Show" was in [[Pasadena, California]] in 1998.<ref name="The Japan Times - February 2009">{{cite web|url=http://www.markryden.com/press/selected/the-japan-times-feb-2009/index.html |title=Mark Ryden |website=Markryden.com |date=2009-02-20 |access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> Meat is a recurring theme in his work. In a 2010 interview, Ryden stated, "There seems to be a complete disconnect between meat as food and the living, breathing creature it comes from. I suppose it is this contradiction that brings me to return to meat in my art."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/meat-lover-mark-rydens-cool-cuts/?ref=t-magazine&src=tmcc |title=Meat Lover &#124; Mark Ryden's Cool Cuts |access-date=2012-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922211858/https://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/meat-lover-mark-rydens-cool-cuts/?ref=t-magazine&src=tmcc |archive-date=2018-09-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Wondertoonel ====

A mid-career retrospective, "Wondertoonel", which refers to a cabinet of curiosities or Wunderkammer ("wonder-room"),<ref name="Wondertoonel Exhibition Book"/> was co-organized in 2004 by the Frye Art Museum in [[Seattle]] and the [[Pasadena Museum of California Art]]. It was the best-attended exhibition since the Frye Art Museum opened in 1952,<ref name="The Japan Times - February 2009"/> and broke attendance records in Pasadena.<ref name="LA Weekly - March 2007">{{cite web|url=http://www.kohngallery.com/ryden/ryden.press.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201115845/http://www.kohngallery.com/ryden/ryden.press.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-02-01 |title=Michael Kohn Gallery - Mark Ryden - Press |access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> Debra Byrne, then-curator of the Frye, placed Ryden's work in the camp of the carnivalesque{{mdash}}a strain of visual culture rooted in such works as [[Hieronymous Bosch]]’s ''[[The Garden of Earthly Delights|Garden of Earthly Delights]]''.<ref name="Wondertoonel Exhibition Book"/>

==== The Tree Show ====
[[File:"The Tree of Life" by Mark Ryden.jpg|thumb|right|240px|''The Tree of Life'' by Mark Ryden]]
In 2007, "The Tree Show" opened at the [[Kohn Gallery|Michael Kohn Gallery]], [[Los Angeles]]. In this show, Ryden explored the contemporary human experience of nature.<ref name="LA Weekly - March 2007"/> He explained, "Some people look at these massive trees and feel a sort of spiritual awe looking at them, and then other people just want to cut them up and sell them, they only see a commodity". Ryden has created limited editions of his art to raise money for the [[Sierra Club]] and [[Nature Conservancy]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.porterhouseart.com/v/arch/editions/yoshi/index.html |title=Porterhouse Fine Art Editions |access-date=2012-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224227/http://www.porterhouseart.com/v/arch/editions/yoshi/index.html |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.porterhouseart.com/v/arch/editions/gsherman.html |title=Porterhouse Fine Art Editions |access-date=2012-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045522/http://www.porterhouseart.com/v/arch/editions/gsherman.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== The Snow Yak Show ====
In 2009, Ryden's exhibition "The Snow Yak Show" was shown at the Tomio Koyama Gallery in [[Tokyo]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hifructose.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=291l |title=Report from Mark Ryden's "The Snow Yak" show in Tokyo |access-date=2009-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711165514/http://www.hifructose.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=291l |archive-date=2011-07-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.supertouchart.com/2009/02/11/tokyofirst-lookopening-nite-at-mark-rydens-snow-yak-show-at-tomio-koyama-gallery/ |title=TOKYO///FIRST LOOK///OPENING NITE AT MARK RYDen's "SNOW YAK SHOW" AT TOMIO KOYAMA GALLERY &#124; Supertouch |access-date=2009-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427062134/http://www.supertouchart.com/2009/02/11/tokyofirst-lookopening-nite-at-mark-rydens-snow-yak-show-at-tomio-koyama-gallery/ |archive-date=2016-04-27 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

==== The Gay 90s: Olde Tyme Art Show ====
[[File:Mark Ryden.jpg|thumb|Mark Ryden at his studio]]
In 2010, "The Gay lord 90s: Olde Tyme Art Show" debuted at Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York. The central theme of the show referenced the idealism and sentimentalism of the 1890s while addressing the role of kitsch and nostalgia in current culture.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/mark-ryden-paul-kasmin-gay-90s |title=Arsenic and Old Lace - Page - Interview Magazine |access-date=2012-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185840/http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/mark-ryden-paul-kasmin-gay-90s |archive-date=2013-10-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ryden explored the line between attraction and repulsion to kitsch. According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', "Ryden’s pictures hint at the psychic stuff that pullulates beneath the sentimental, nostalgic and naïve surface of modern kitsch."<ref name="New York Times - May 2010" />

==== The Tree of Life ====
Ryden's ''The Tree of Life'' painting was included in the exhibition "The Artist's Museum, Los Angeles Artists 1980-2010" at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA).<ref name="MOCA">{{cite web|url=http://www.moca.org/audio/blog/?p=812 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817084703/http://www.moca.org/audio/blog/?p=812 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-08-17 |title=Announcing The Artist's Museum « The Curve &#124; MOCA, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles |date=2011-08-17 |access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> The exhibition showcased artists who helped shape the artistic dialogue in Los Angeles since MOCA's 1980 founding.<ref name="MOCA"/> 

==== The Gay Nineties Olde Tyme Music ====
On May 13, 2014, Ryden released an album titled ''The Gay Nineties Olde Tyme Music: Daisy Bell'', featuring [[Tyler, the Creator]], [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], [[Katy Perry]], [[Stan Ridgway]] of [[Wall Of Voodoo]], [[Danny Elfman]], [[Mark Mothersbaugh]] of [[Devo]], [[Nick Cave]], [[Scarling.]], [[Kirk Hammett]] of [[Metallica]], and [[Everlast]]. All performed a different rendition of the same song, "[[Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)]]." The proceeds from the signed and limited edition record benefited [[Little Kids Rock]], a nonprofit that supports musical education in disadvantaged elementary schools.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/katy-perry-featured-pop-artist-700730 |title=Katy Perry Featured on Pop Artist Mark Ryden's $100 'Gay Nineties' Album |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=2014-02-05 |access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.porterhouseart.com/product_p/p113.htm |title=The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music |access-date=2014-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140511002534/http://www.porterhouseart.com/product_p/p113.htm |archive-date=2014-05-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Whipped Cream ====
Ryden developed costumes and sets for a two-act ballet titled ''Whipped Cream'', which premiered in March 2017 at the [[Segerstrom Center for the Arts]] in [[Costa Mesa, California]]. The ballet was created by choreographer [[Alexei Ratmansky]] for the [[American Ballet Theatre]]. It is a story about a young boy who overindulges at a Vienna pastry shop and falls into a surreal delirium. With libretto and music by Richard Strauss, the ballet, originally titled ''[[Schlagobers]]'', was first performed by the Vienna State Opera in 1924.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vankin |first=Deborah |date=15 March 2017 |title=Mark Ryden's foray into set design is a fantastical ballet of candyland delights |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-mark-ryden-whipped-cream-20170303-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428051954/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-mark-ryden-whipped-cream-20170303-story.html |archive-date=28 April 2017 |access-date=27 April 2017 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

==== The Mark Ryden x Barbie Collection ====

In 2022, it was announced that Ryden had designed a series of limited-edition Barbies and accessories for [[Mattel]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Dafoe |first=Taylor |date=2022-10-12 |title=Kasmin Has Teamed Up With Mattel for a Pop-Up Launching Artist Mark Ryden's New Line of Macabre-Pop Barbie Dolls |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mark-ryden-designing-barbie-dolls-2190809 |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Mattel Creations]] and [[Kasmin Gallery]] held an exhibition of Ryden's work and the dolls from November 11 to December 12, 2022.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 2019 |title=Mattel Introduces Barbie Dolls With Disabilities |journal=The ASHA Leader |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=13 |doi=10.1044/leader.nib3.24052019.13 |issn=1085-9586|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Juxtapoz Magazine - The Mark Ryden x Barbie Collection (and Pop-Up "Pink Pop") is Almost Here |url=https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/collectibles/the-mark-ryden-x-barbie-collection-and-pop-up-pink-pop-is-almost-here/ |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=www.juxtapoz.com |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gaskin |first=Sam |date=October 12, 2022 |title=Mark Ryden Paints Sinister Barbie in Mattel Collab |url=https://ocula.com/magazine/art-news/mark-ryden-paints-sinister-barbie-in-mattel-collab/ |access-date=May 24, 2023 |website=Ocula}}</ref> Also on display was Ryden's first depiction of Barbie, a 1994 oil painting of a girl praying to Barbie, titled ''Saint Barbie''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lawson-Tancred |first=Jo |date=2022-11-09 |title=In Pictures: See Surrealist Artist Mark Ryden's Cheerfully Unsettling New Barbie Dolls, Set to Debut in L.A This Week |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mark-ryden-x-barbie-kasmin-2207144 |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}</ref> 

==Personal life==
Ryden has two children, Rosie and Jasper.<ref name="Mark Ryden Biography" /> In 2009, he married artist [[Marion Peck]] in the Pacific Northwest rainforest.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Congrats Mr. And MRS. Ryden! &#124; Arrested Motion |url=http://arrestedmotion.com/2009/11/congrats-mr-and-mrs-ryden/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812060035/http://arrestedmotion.com/2009/11/congrats-mr-and-mrs-ryden/ |archive-date=2011-08-12 |access-date=2010-09-14}}</ref> He resides in [[Portland, Oregon]].<ref name="bio">{{cite web |title=Mark Ryden Biography |url=https://www.markryden.com/biography/biography.html |access-date=March 27, 2018 |website=Markryden.com}}</ref>

==Selected solo exhibitions==
*2016/2017: "Cámara de las Maravillas." CAC, Málaga, España
*2014: "The Gay 90's West." Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
*2010: "The Gay 90's: Old Tyme Art Show", Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
*2010: "The Artist's Museum," The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
*2009: "The Snow Yak Show", Tomio Koyama Gallery, Japan
*2007: "Tree Show", Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
*2004-05: "Wondertoonel", Frye Museum, Seattle & Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena
*2003: "Insalata Mista", Mondo Bizzarro Gallery, Bologna, Italy
*2003: "Blood" Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, California
*2002: "Bunnies and Bees", Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, California
*2001: "Bunnies and Bees", Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, New York
*1998: "The Meat Show", Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California

==Albums==
*2014: ''Mark Ryden's The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official website|http://www.markryden.com/}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryden, Mark}}
[[Category:People from Medford, Oregon]]
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Fantastic art]]
[[Category:Painters from California]]
[[Category:Painters from Oregon]]
[[Category:ArtCenter College of Design alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:American male painters]]
[[Category:21st-century American painters]]
[[Category:Sympathy for the Record Industry artists]]
[[Category:American album-cover and concert-poster artists]]
[[Category:American surrealist artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male artists]]