Mark Ryden

Over the years we’ve met quite a few collectors that share the same passion for subculture and collecting. These passions culminate for the us by collecting specifics artist's, iconography and imagery that shapes each of our collections. On the rare occasion we’re asked to offer vintage items on the site, and we have from time to time. Well last week profoundly changed our lives and we’re excited to share that will you. After spending a few days learning about the stories of 1 collector that has been in the game for the past few decades we found signed prints from many of the artists that built the foundation for collecting art prints. With the likes of Bill Graham, Gary Grimshaw, Coop, Derek Hess and beyond, stored safely in flat files, we sifted through and pulled a few hundred prints. Now that we’re back home we’re doing our best to process this collection, grade for quality, photograph and add to the site.

Blending themes of pop culture with techniques reminiscent of the old masters, Mark Ryden has created a singular style that blurs the traditional boundaries between high and low art. His work first garnered attention in the 1990s when he ushered in a new genre of painting, "Pop Surrealism", dragging a host of followers in his wake. Ryden has trumped the initial surrealist strategies by choosing subject matter loaded with cultural connotation.

Ryden’s vocabulary ranges from cryptic to cute, treading a fine line between nostalgic cliché and disturbing archetype. Seduced by his infinitely detailed and meticulously glazed surfaces, the viewer is confronted with the juxtaposition of the childhood innocence and the mysterious recesses of the soul. A subtle disquiet inhabits his paintings; the work is achingly beautiful as it hints at darker psychic stuff beneath the surface of cultural kitsch. In Ryden's world cherubic girls rub elbows with strange and mysterious figures. Ornately carved frames lend the paintings a baroque exuberance that adds gravity to their enigmatic themes.

Mark Ryden received a BFA in 1987 from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. His paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, including a retrospective “Wondertoonel” at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle and Pasadena Museum of California Art, and in the exhibition "The Artist's Museum" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles.