I have a very clear memory of my first glimpse of Ryan McLennan’s work. It was 2006, I was upstairs in the little gallery at Chop Suey Books (farewell, most beloved!) and my jaw nearly hit the floor; the animals—some startlingly realistic, some like bear- or deer-shaped topiaries—were ripping limbs from fallen forest-mates, muscling them back to the bare shelter of a dead tree or log. It broke my heart. I left trying to figure out why that was, and after discarding a lot of theories about all the animals I watched and loved throughout my childhood, I arrived at Ryan’s point: those animals are us. We are the ones tearing off pieces of ourselves to patch up what we’ve lost. To voice that in pictures of the beasts that circle our strange human borders—bears, foxes, raccoons—makes the tension between man and environment very clear, more so than CNN’s horror stories or the disturbing covers of Mother Jones, because they remind us that in nature, there is a system. And we have removed ourselves from it. “My work parallels our world, what we do to ourselves and our environment. The predators—mostly bears, now—represent us…we’re our only competition, our only danger. The bears point out what’s lacking. Placing them in a stark setting highlights what the animals have to eat, to shelter and sustain them, and it’s up to them to maintain those resources.”
 
Ryan’s had a good year. He was awarded a VMFA Fellowship, he’s had shows in New York (31 Grand) and L.A. (a solo exhibition at Kinsey/DesForges), and he was featured in both New American Paintings magazine and the Tiny Showcase’s print gallery (check out tinyshowcase.com). He’s at that point where art is truly becoming work, for better or worse, and it makes sense; his unerringly consistent style is somewhat of a rarity these days, and it lends him easy recognition. “In school, I pressured myself to do more, to push my drawing and try to be more painterly. I was discouraged by it, because back then, I had no reasons for doing what I was doing… I was searching for something that I could continue with; I wanted to make a strong body of work that I could be comfortable with and that would remain steady.” Done and done.
 
Do NOT miss his upcoming show, Taxonomic Intoxication, at Transmission (321 Brook Road). It opens on November 7, it’s up until the 29th, and the equally painstaking and perceptive Amy Ross will share the walls with him. There’s no telling how long it will be before the tide of success sweeps him up and away from us, although it won’t be helped along by Ryan’s own doing: ask him what he does for work and he’ll tell you that he rings up books at Chop Suey Tuey. Seriously.

WEB | http://www.ryanmclennan.com.

Transmission Gallery | 321 Brook Rd. | Nov. 7-29