The Sleep of Reason, 2008
90 X 90cm Releif Print on Japanese Paper (Edition of 5)

 

Ryan McClelland creates monuments to the vulgarity of the of western consumer society, the flotsam and jetsam of our urban experiences are played out in narrative images and piled high in complex sculptures. Trash and treasures, decadent and degrading behaviours, are set up to create tensions within works, he is truly a master of incongruous juxtaposition.

His narrative drawings and prints stand in a long lineage of social commentary; awash with transgressive behaviour, the thematic’s of binge drinking, sex and violence. Throughout all his work he projects social scenarios that purposely present a duality of interpretation to the viewer. Contemporary excesses are laid bare for the voyeur to interoperate as they choose fit. Or indeed a true taxidermy of contemporary life, He elevates the maligned and base, to the truly decadent level of Art.