Maximum Vend

New Paintings by Ryan Davis “ I want to make paintings that are elegant and minimal, but it usually doesn’t work. “ Imitation is the highest form of flattery, but what if imitation becomes gross mistranslation? Is it still a compliment? Hopefully, but perhaps the answer is irrelevant. Minimalist in spirit, yet maximalist in execution, these paintings show a battle between the two, and the mutations that occur as the minimal falls apart. “ I have no use for a “one-to-one” correspondence between image and meaning. Instead, pattern interactions take the place of visual language cues to build verbose compositions. “ The aim is that this effusive, layered, iterative approach to image making delivers “Maximum Vend”. Like those candy machines that helpfully inform you to “Turn Slowly For Maximum Vend”. Paintings with rich formal content, couched in an absurdist process—leveraging active visual pattern structure—that repay careful study. Ryan Thayer Davis is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a BFA in Studio Art. He lives and works in Austin, TX. RyanThayerDavis.com