Mark Ryden

MARK RYDEN (Medford, Oregon, 1963) for MATTEL.
"Barbie Bee Mark Ryden Doll."
Certificate of authenticity attached.
Includes doll stand.
Preserves premium packaging designed with illustrations by Mark Ryden.
Measurements: 33 cm (height); 40 x 36 x 18 cm (box).
In 1994 Ryden created his work "Santa Barbie", quickly becoming one of his most recognized paintings. Years later the collaboration with the Mattel company resulted in the artistic creation of two dolls and a series of accessories that were celebrated in an exhibition in which Mattel paid tribute to various icons of surrealism. Designed with Mark Ryden, this Barbie bee, reigns in her enchanted garden, dressed in luxurious bee "skin" and translucent wings. Ryden's distinctive vision of surrealism is rendered with the delicacy of the old masters and blurs the boundaries between high and low art. This creative collaboration brings to life the magical universe of Ryden who has always accorded a very special place to the bee in his work and in his personal mythology. Ryden sees in the bee the quintessential example of the interconnectedness of all life forms on the planet. For this collaboration, the Barbie doll has become the bee, gliding majestically in a lush, baroque tableau of nature.
Mark Ryden received a BFA in 1987 from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. His paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, including a career-spanning retrospective "Chamber of Wonders" at the Center for Contemporary Art in Malaga, as well as an earlier retrospective "Wondertoonel" at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle and Pasadena California Museum of Art. Ryden was recently commissioned to create the costume set and costumes for a new production of Whipped Cream, presented by American Ballet Theatre with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky. Whipped Cream is based on Schlagobers, a two-act ballet with libretto and score by Richard Strauss that was first performed at the Vienna State Opera in 1924.