28th ANNUAL NO DEAD ARTISTS
International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art"First Saturdays" Opening Receptions - 7 September + 5 October 5-9 PM
September 3 – October 19, 2024
Artist Statement
I see each of my paintings as a dense collection of layered missteps guided by a single underlying
intention. In most of my work, I’m attempting a semi-realistic interpretation of an imagined
environment, employing realism and abstraction in a way that gives the impression of a scene on the
verge of collapse. The photographic source material I use serves as both a jumping off point and
something to fight against. I try to glean from the source only that which resonates with me and dispose
of the rest so as to avoid slavish depiction. The ideal result is a faint echo or a total reconstruction of
what is observed, anchored by recurring themes of nostalgia, my own existential anxieties and the
corruption of human memory. I view the painting process as a form of self-examination – the end
product’s value lying in the thoughts, emotions and memories I’ve projected onto the objective source.
Biography
Mike Ryczek graduated from Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts, in 2006 with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. He lives and works as a full-time artist and designer in Dedham,
Massachusetts. Ryczek’s work was selected for a juried exhibition at the Danforth Art Museum in
2015, and it has been featured in Art Maze Mag and by the Jealous Curator. BOOOOOOOM has twice
given Ryczek’s work its Editor’s Pick award, and he was a recipient of the 2022 Painting Fellowship
from Mass Cultural Council. He is currently represented by 13Forest Gallery in Arlington, MA.
Curriculum Vitae
b. 1984, Wallingford, CT
Education
Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA / BFA / 2006
Representation
13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
Solo & Two-Person Exhibitions
2022 Personal Space / w Chen Peng, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2020 Fascination Street, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
Group Exhibitions
2024 Artrageous!38 Annual Auction, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
2024 Sci Fi Show / curated by Scott Listfield, Gallery1988 @ Exhibit A Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Plenty 16th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2023 13Forest at 444, Gallery 444, Provincetown, MA
2023 As Luck Would Have It, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2023 Artrageous!37 Annual Auction, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
2022 Plenty 15th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2022 Contemporary Color / juried by Chloe Wyma, SITE : BROOKLYN, Brooklyn, NY
2021 Plenty 14th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2021 Contemporary Art Survey / juried by Zoey Frank, The Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO
2021 13Forest at 444, Gallery 444, Provincetown, MA
2021 13th Annual National Exhibition / juried by Sangram Majumdar, Prince Street Gallery, New
York, NY
2021 Mall Dayz, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Disrupted Realism / juried by John Seed, Buckham Gallery, Flint, MI
2021 MassArt Auction 2021, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
2020 Franchise 3 / curated by Scott Listfield, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Plenty 13th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2020 How’ve You Been?, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2020 Touchy Feely, Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA
2019 Call of the Wild, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2018 Plenty 11th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2018 Concrete Random, Zullo Gallery, Medfield, MA
2018 Stripes, bG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2017 Plenty 10th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2017 Second Annual Montserrat Art Sale, 301 Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
2017 13Forest at 444, Gallery 444, Provincetown, MA
2017 9th Annual National Exhibition / juried by Stuart Shils, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
2016 Plenty 9th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2016 TENFOLD – 10th anniversary show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2016 Construct, Belief and Nostalgia, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2015 Plenty 8th Annual Holiday Show, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2015 Double Vision, 13Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA
2015 Off The Wall Summer Juried Exhibition, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA
Awards / Recognition
2022 Painting Fellowship, Mass Cultural Council, Boston, MA
Exhibition Catalogues
2022 Surveillance
Selected Press / Publications
2020 BOOOOOOOM Editor’s Pick (Seoul)
2020 BOOOOOOOM Editor’s Pick (Brooklyn Misremembered)
2020 Creative Boom
2020 My Modern Met
2017 Art Maze Mag (Summer Issue 3)
2016 Art Maze Mag (blog feature)
2016 Creative Boom
2016 The Jealous Curator
2016 Mike Ryczek (Portrait of the Artists Series) documentary by Nick Noyes