Lowell Ryan Projects

repost • I’m having a blue rose summer over here is the studio. In love with this collection of “Rose” pattern Flow Blue W H Grindley china, c 1893!

TBD, 16” X 12”, Oil on linen, 2024



 

Today is the day! James Busby's "Busby Electric" and Richard Dupont's "7 Island" shows are open, and there will be a reception from 6 to 8 p.m.! Please join us for good conversation and two extraordinary exhibitions.

Join us for the opening reception of Richard Dupont’s “7 Islands” exhibition at Lowell Ryan Projects this Saturday, July 20th, from 6-8pm. Featuring seven large-scale works on paper, each measuring 60 x 42 inches, Dupont presents tranquil ocean scenes in shades of pink, blue, yellow, and grey. Arranged by color on the gallery’s upper level, these pieces from his ongoing “Islands” series offer a serene escape into nature’s beauty, inviting viewers to contemplate light, color, and emotion.

James Busby’s exhibition “Busby Electric” at Lowell Ryan Projects intimately connects with his father’s motor repair shop, Busby Electric, infusing each artwork with personal history and emotional resonance. Opening with a reception this Saturday from 6-8 pm, the exhibition explores Busby’s upbringing in the workshop environment, where he developed a deep affinity for materials and processes. Through abstract compositions crafted from gesso, graphite, cement, and spray paint, Busby reflects on his tactile experiences and memories associated with his father’s trade. This thematic thread not only grounds the artworks in a rich familial narrative but also invites viewers to contemplate the intersection of personal history and artistic expression within each meticulously crafted piece.

Richard Dupont
7 Islands
July 20 - August 17, 2024
Opening: Saturday, July 20th, 6-8pm

Lowell Ryan Projects is pleased to present Richard Dupont’s second solo show at the gallery, 7 Islands, on view from July 20th to August 17th. This exhibition features seven works on paper depicting scenes of swimmers and surfers in the ocean, each measuring approximately 60 x 42 inches, in shades of pink, blue, yellow, and grey. Installed sequentially by color in the upper level of the gallery, these works are from Dupont’s ongoing drawing practice dedicated to images in nature—from the Islands series the artist depicts scenes that are just out of view of a landmass.

These drawings take the form of an imaginative exercise, once the artist approaches the paper any possible reference materials are cast aside. Whimsical in approach and immersive in scale one can almost feel the warmth of sun in the saturated pink hues or the cool water in the blue washes of color. The dash-like strokes depicting the reflection of light on the water’s surface remind the viewer of the impermanence of both the setting and the process. Captured briefly by the mind’s eye, Dupont’s method becomes both a meditation and a means of escapism.

While Dupont’s practice has explored ideas related to self-portraiture and psychological states, through his recent drawing practice he inverts his subject matter. Instead of depicting his own body as a vessel or carrier of information Dupont considers the possibility of capturing a feeling, vision, or memory with the understanding that the mind is also capable of distorting one’s own perception. What matters most is the outcome—the tactile process of making and the emotion invoked through the pleasure in a connection to nature.

Pictured:
Richard Dupont Islands 371, 2023
India ink and watercolor on paper
60 x 42 in / 152.40 x 106.68 cm
RD-44

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James Busby
Busby Electric
July 20 - August 17, 2024
Opening: Saturday, July 20th, 6-8pm

Lowell Ryan Projects is pleased to present Busby Electric, a solo exhibition by South Carolina-based artist James Busby, and his second collaboration with the gallery. Consisting of a series of intimately scaled abstract works on panel, some as small as ten by eight inches, in a palette of black and white tonalities marked by occasional hints of color, the works are created using primarily gesso, graphite, cement, and spray paint with small touches of oil or acrylic paint. These paintings—some tondos, others rectangular, occasionally displayed on wooden shelves—explore Neo-Geo concepts and the relationship between material and surface through a sentimental framework. The exhibition’s title refers to Busby’s father’s eponymously named motor repair shop.

Pictured:
James Busby
Lo & Behold, 2024
Gesso, graphite, and oil on
panel with wooden shelf
10 x 8 x 0.75 in
25.40 x 20.32 x 1.90 cm
JB-25

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repost • ☄️ “Full Tilt,” Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 180 inches, 2024

This painting is the largest in the exhibition, designed to fill the wall of the upstairs gallery. I liked the idea that the largest piece would be installed in the smallest space, creating a more intimate & immersive experience for viewers as they climb the stairs and are confronted with a massive 15 foot piece.

🪐 I was thinking of things cosmic or nocturnal, the way the night envelopes you or folds in around you, and light raining or cascading down like some sort of meteor shower. I hope it creates the same feeling of expansiveness I tried to harness while making it in those that make the journey upstairs and through the gallery.

P.S. It’s the last week to see my exhibition “Innerscapes” at in Los Angeles! The gallery is open Wed-Sat. from 11am-5pm.

On view through Saturday: Nicole Mueller, Innerscapes

Nicole Mueller
Innerscapes
June 8 - July 13, 2024

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday - Saturday, 11am - 5pm

Lowell Ryan Projects will be closed on July 4th, 5th, and 6th for the Holiday and reopen on Wednesday, July 10th, for Nicole Mueller’s Innerscapes on view through July 13. 🎆

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LOWELL RYAN PROJECTS
4619 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016

Wednesday - Saturday, 11am-5pm

+1 323 413 2584

Lowell Ryan Projects will be closed on July 4th, 5th, and 6th for the Holiday and reopen on Wednesday, July 10th, for Nicole Mueller’s Innerscapes on view through July 13. 🎆

Pictured:
Nicole Mueller
Loopback, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 96 in
152.40 x 243.84 cm
NM-1

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LOWELL RYAN PROJECTS
4619 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016

Wednesday - Saturday, 11am-5pm

+1 323 413 2584

Its all in the details

Gallery Weekend Los Angeles / June 27-29 / Thursday - Saturday .la

On View Now: Nicole Mueller, Innerscapes

Gallery Hours: Thursday - Saturday / 11am - 5pm

Lowell Ryan Projects
4619 W Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles CA, 90016

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Artwork:
Nicole Mueller
Cat’s Cradle, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 96 in / 152.40 x 243.84 cm
NM-5

Gallery Weekend Los Angeles / June 27-29 / Thursday - Saturday / 11am - 5pmla

On View Now:
Nicole Mueller, Innerscapes

Gallery Hours:
Thursday - Saturday / 11am - 5pm

Lowell Ryan Projects
4619 W Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles CA, 90016

Artwork:
Nicole Mueller
Cat’s Cradle, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 96 in / 152.40 x 243.84 cm
NM-5

Pictured:
Nicole Mueller
Twister, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 96 in / 152.40 x 243.84 cm
NM-4

Carrie Mae Smith lives and works in Upstate New York. Her paintings are often depictions of items from particular museum collections, acquired from estate sales, or ingredients that she will cook herself. Influenced by her life in the Northeastern United States, including having worked as a private chef on Martha’s Vineyard, Smith’s works serve as symbols of class, labor, friendship, tradition, love, and utility.
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Studio View, Upstate New York

Nicole Mueller’s Full Tilt, 2024, is a 15-foot-long monumental canvas on the gallery’s upper level that commands attention with its seemingly cosmic expanse. This painting delves into what can be described as introspective self-portraiture, whereby tangible embodiments of the artist’s subconscious unravel into dynamic forms, colors, and gestures.
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Pictured:
Nicole Mueller
Full Tilt, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
72 x 180 in / 182.88 x 457.20 cm
NM-7

_________

LOWELL RYAN PROJECTS
4619 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016

Wednesday - Saturday, 11am-5pm

+1 323 413 2584

Nicole Mueller’s Full Tilt, 2024, is a 15-foot-long monumental canvas on the gallery's upper level that commands attention with its seemingly cosmic expanse. This painting delves into what can be described as introspective self-portraiture, whereby tangible embodiments of the artist’s subconscious unravel into dynamic forms, colors, and gestures.
-
Pictured:
Nicole Mueller
Full Tilt, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
72 x 180 in / 182.88 x 457.20 cm
NM-7

Nicole Mueller’s painting Mind Gardening imagined 💭 in an interior. Her show Innerscapes is on view through July 13th, and furniture is not included.

Pictured:
Nicole Mueller
Mind Gardening
2024
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 96 in
152.40 x 243.84 cm
NM-2
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LOWELL RYAN PROJECTS
4619 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016

Wednesday - Saturday, 11am-5pm

+1 323 413 2584

“I came across the term mind gardening in an article I read about cultivating a more intentional relationship with things we consume online, and I liked the way it took the phrase “garden of the mind” and turned it into something active.

The key is that it isn’t something that happens solely in the mind, but rather through physical activities or acts of creation (writing, conversing—painting, for example). And it’s through these physical acts that we actually process, learn, and retain things better over time.

Much like painting, it’s the physical that helps us engage with the internal. This felt directly related to the idea of Innerscapes, which is a worlding of the subconscious self, and the title of my exhibition at Lowell Ryan Projects.” -
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Mind Gardening, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 96 inches, 2024

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LOWELL RYAN PROJECTS
4619 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016

Wednesday - Saturday, 11am-5pm

+1 323 413 2584


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Studio images by 📷

When discussing her paintings, Mueller references animation and how she first learned how to draw cartoons before having any formal artistic training. Growing up during the animation renaissance in the 1990s, movies by Don Bluth and Disney served as creative inspirations. While Mueller does not directly reference particular films in relation to her paintings, through her use of vibrant color, gesture, and form one can feel a palpable glimpse into the inner workings of the mind’s processing of memory and emotion. Much like the escapist fantasies in constant motion that became formative influences in her early life, the paintings on display in Innerscapes evoke a response where feelings intertwine with recollections, creating a form of rich visual storytelling.

repost • I came across the term “mind gardening” in an article I read about cultivating a more intentional relationship with things we consume online, and I liked the way it took the phrase “garden of the mind” and turned it into something active. 💭

The key is that it isn’t something that happens solely in the mind, but rather through physical activities or acts of creation (writing, conversing—painting, for example). And it’s through these physical acts that we actually process, learn, and retain things better over time. ✍️

Much like painting, it’s the physical that helps us engage with the internal. This felt directly related to the idea of ‘Innerscapes’ which is a worlding of the subconscious self and the title of my exhibition .

Now on view through July 13th in LA.

“Mind Gardening,” Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 96 inches, 2024 🪷

Studio image by

Artist Spotlight: James Richards

Los Angeles-based artist James Richards’ practice spans the boundaries between painting and sculpture, transforming raw materials into objects that inhabit both mediums, thereby expanding the dialog of abstraction. They foreground the materiality of painting, challenging viewers to engage with the physicality of objecthood by reconsidering the conventional hierarchy between canvas and paint. Through techniques like exposing stretcher bars, crudely weaving the “canvas,” and incorporating papier-mâché vessels for drying pigments, these pieces invite a micro exploration of the weave and evoke comparisons to the quantum and digital worlds, where solidity and continuity are illusions. The use of convex forms that contain the sedimentary rings of evaporated pigmented water hint at modernist themes of negation and the absence of the artist’s hand, creating a dynamic tension within the artworks. While recognizable as paintings, these works exist within a space that oscillates between the picture plane and the physical surroundings, blending a DIY aesthetic with elements reminiscent of arts and crafts to achieve a raw yet resonant state.

James Richards received his MFA from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA. He has exhibited his works at galleries including Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, NY, and McClain Gallery, Houston, TX. His works have been reviewed and discussed in publications such as the Los Angeles Times, Art in America, New York Times, Flash Art, and ArtNews. Lowell Ryan Projects will present a solo exhibition by James Richards this fall.
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Pictured:
1. James Richards, #291, 2024
2. James Richards, #291 (detail), 2024
3. Installation view Lowell Ryan Projects, 2024
4. James Richards, #293, 2024
5. James Richards, #293 (side view), 2024
6. James Richards photographed by Charles White

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LOWELL RYAN PROJECTS
4619 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016

Wednesday - Saturday, 11am-5pm

+1 323 413 2584

Artist Spotlight: James Richards

Los Angeles-based artist James Richards’ practice spans the boundaries between painting and sculpture, transforming raw materials into objects that inhabit both mediums, thereby expanding the dialog of abstraction. They foreground the materiality of painting, challenging viewers to engage with the physicality of objecthood by reconsidering the conventional hierarchy between canvas and paint. Through techniques like exposing stretcher bars, crudely weaving the “canvas,” and incorporating papier-mâché vessels for drying pigments, these pieces invite a micro exploration of the weave and evoke comparisons to the quantum and digital worlds, where solidity and continuity are illusions. The use of convex forms that contain the sedimentary rings of evaporated pigmented water hint at modernist themes of negation and the absence of the artist’s hand, creating a dynamic tension within the artworks. While recognizable as paintings, these works exist within a space that oscillates between the picture plane and the physical surroundings, blending a DIY aesthetic with elements reminiscent of arts and crafts to achieve a raw yet resonant state.

James Richards received his MFA from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA. He has exhibited his works at galleries including Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, NY, and McClain Gallery, Houston, TX. His works have been reviewed and discussed in publications such as the Los Angeles Times, Art in America, New York Times, Flash Art, and ArtNews. Lowell Ryan Projects will present a solo exhibition by James Richards this fall.

Photography by Cayce Clifford