With a special interest in the darker side of sprawling metropolises, Ryan Monahan’s collection of grungy city tableau’s, complete with corner bodegas and, abandoned store fronts, capture the spirit of the inner city in miniature. Ryan, who is a graphic designer during the day, has been building the scaled-down sculptures for little over a year now. With a close familiarity with the gritty side of the street, Ryan is careful to pinpoint every single detail in his sculptures from debris on the ground to graffiti on the walls.

This show is exciting for me, I really wanted to unveil this new body of work in a gallery setting as it was born from the idea of a gallery viewing. Presenting the artwork in a more fine art presentation without glass really helps the artwork standout when on display. Aside from doing new fragment style artwork framed without glass I dived into more play with scale. I chose the matchbook to enlarge because they have so much character, The cover art, the wear and tear all of it gives the matchbooks a narrative. I am excited to explore both of these new bodies of work in 2019.

This show focuses on “tricking” the viewer, tells us what about that aspect you enjoy, hate, etc
I love working for that goal, having a viewer question what a item or area is made from. I use so many various materials you would often be surprised what some stuff is made out of.

Tell us a bit about your career, school, city, ideas, etc
I use to be a full time Graphic Designer, that’s the schooling I have.
These days I work on my fine art full time from my home studio. I really try to incorporate my design background with my fine art, that explains a lot of the signage and graphics. I enjoy creating those based on ads and signs I’ve seen in reality.

What types of materials do you use? 
That’s a deep question in my world. I use everything..EVERYTHING. I like to collect and organize materials I find and salvage. Wheather its foam from a dumpster in a alley, or a plastic piece I found on the side of the road. In Lincoln Hall (the shit hole bathroom) part of the sink plumbing was pulled from my son’s hospital bracelet. I was in the midst of creating that piece when he was born. I sometimes have materials for years before it is used. My main construction material is MDF, Wood, Styrene and other common model making materials.

How many hours do your pieces generally take to complete/info about your process, etc
It depends on the piece, size and over all complexity really. They can get pretty extensive. The piece titled ‘Show World’ was a labor of love. To create the bulbs, I individually sanded each pearl pin to a dull finish to create the right bulb appearance. Details such as that add many hours to the process. Some highly involved pieces like Lincoln Hall can take up to 300 hours to create.

What is more important – Content, reaction or technique?
I like how we have added “reaction” to this… that may be what is most
important to me. Getting the viewer to really get into the work and start seeing all the small details that I added. They are all pretty intertwined in my process…I think a close second is technique, practice makes you suck less.

What is currently influencing you that might surprise people?
Oh shit this is always so hard, I couldn’t even tell ya… I’ve always had a hard time determining where my influences come from. I’m just always running on full steam and I cant even slow down to notice where its coming from – ha.

What are some of the responses you hear in regards to your work?
I typically hear good things! I think folks are really drawn to the
authenticity of the work. I strive to add details that make you just look at it and think it feels right..even if it’s something odd. With this new body of work I’m excited for people to see everything out from behind glass. Getting as close as you can to the work to see the details.

Describe your work environment – Music, TV, Movies, things you
drink/smoke, time of day etc
Well I have two types of days now that I became a parent. When its just me in the studio… loud music, loud movies, smoking pot and drinking coffee all the live long day… these days I start work at 4am and work steady until 4pm this gives me some extra time to help my wife with our son and what not.

I take great pride in my studio, its basically a huge version of my childhood bedroom, toys and posters and art. It is a pretty creative spot.

If you could choose only one, would you rather be thought of as a great
artist or a nice person?
A great artist…..being nice is so last year.