Ryan Hughes/The Weight of Sunshine

The Burnet Gallery is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in the gallery of new paintings by Ryan Hughes. In “The Weight of Sunshine”, Hughes travels between abstraction and figuration, challenging the viewer to walk between the familiar yet banal, the precise yet anonymous. 

He presents objects, as in the paintings titled “Alter Ego” or “An instrument for producing a current of air”, which are easily identifiable, but in isolating them allows the viewer to explore his or her own interpretations. 

“Objects in the paintings exist as part realistic, part imagined”, explains Hughes. “Informed by the history of painting, thriving on contradiction, the work manipulates conventions and challenges reality. The paintings portray objects now as a mental apparatus as opposed to a purely physical use, caught somewhere between thought and language, a place where the real and unreal reflect one another.”

The opening reception for “The Weight of Sunshine” is Fri. September 11 from 6-9pm and is free and open to the public. The show runs through Nov. 1, 2015. Gallery hours are 11am to 5pm daily and by appointment. 

Ryan Hughes has a BFA in Fine Art Studio from Minneapolis College of Art & Design and AAS in Graphic Design from Minneapolis Community & Technical College. He has been a resident artist at the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah as well as participated in an experimental class residency at the Walker Art Center. 

He has worked with clients such as Target, Fiat Automotive, University of Wisconsin La Crosse, MCAD, and Medtronic. He has been featured in L’etoile Magazine, Minneapolis St.Paul Magazine, Paper Darts, Fox 9 Morning Show, and Citypages.

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Image Credit: Something That You Can Use to Reduce The Bad Effects of Something, 12 x 18, acrylic on canvas