10 Year’s Later – RYCA

A perfect place for a pit stop on your way through the city this month is Ryan Callanan solo show at the Lawrence Alkin Gallery. Nestled just north of Seven Dials the 2-floor gallery is showing their second major show with the artist. Consisting of what Ryan is famous for: his smiley faces synonymous with the acid house rave culture of the 1980s as well as some new emoji themed works.

Already a prominent street artist as well as one of our lovely print club artists, remember his Summer Screen print? RYCA has over the last 3 years been moving towards a new practice that draws upon his history of craftsmanship in 3-D sign & model making. Downstairs is a selection of bas-relief pieces associated with traditional pub signs – gold inlay and black lacquered backgrounds. His newer works at the galleries entrance venture more into the abstract and obscure than ever before but maintain a core theme.

10 Years Later marks a decade anniversary of Ryan’s work and promises a glimpse in to the fun future that his expert technique and pop art inspired style will bring.

An artist working in contemporary printmaking and graphics. Already a prominent artist on the Street Art scene, the last three years have seen Ryan move away from this aesthetic towards a new practice that draws upon his in-depth knowledge of materials and craftsmanship acquired through his training in industrial model making and 3-D design.

From the starting point of the emblematic visual sign, RYCA began a series of works using the smiley face synonymous with acid house rave culture in the 1980s. Working in bas-relief, this iconic motif was recontextualised by rendering it in material and style usually associated with traditional pub signs – gold inlay and black lacquered background. This highly technical skill obtained and finessed through Ryan’s parallel career in the sign making industry.