Mark Ryden

MARK RYDEN (Medford, Oregon, 1963).
"Pinxit."
Issue 217/1050.
Taschen.
Edition limited to 1050 individually numbered copies, each signed by Mark Ryden.
Printed on archival quality paper.
Quarter bound book with leather spine.
The front cover is stamped with a gilt embossing modeled by the master printers at Pressure Printing.
Book and hinged slipcase covered in book cloth.
Original box preserved.
Measurements: 50 x 37,5 cm (with box).

MARK RYDEN (Medford, Oregon, 1963).
"Pinxit".
Copy 217/1050.
Taschen.
Limited edition of 1050 individually numbered copies, each signed by Mark Ryden.
Printed on archival quality paper.
Quarter bound book with leather spine.
The front cover is stamped with a gilt embossing modeled by the master printers at Pressure Printing.
Book and hinged slipcase covered in book cloth.
Original box preserved.
Measurements: 50 x 37,5 cm (with box).

Pixit, whose title refers to the Latin term meaning "painted by," is organized according to the themes of Ryden's major exhibitions-The Meat Show, Bunnies & Bees, The Tree Show, and so on-and includes compiled essays by Yoshitomo Nara, Carlo McCormick, and others, and a new essay by cultural critic Kristine McKenna. Ryden's paintings and drawings are reproduced with the finest techniques available, and more than a dozen of the paintings are foldouts that open to a staggering 150 cm (59 inches) from side to side.

Mixing pop culture subjects with techniques reminiscent of the old masters, Mark Ryden has created a singular style that blurs the traditional boundaries between great and popular art. His work first came to attention in the 1990s, when he birthed a new genre of painting, "pop surrealism," that swept a multitude of followers in its wake. Ryden has topped off the initial surrealist strategies by choosing content laden with cultural connotations. Ryden's vocabulary ranges from the cryptic to the tender, treading the 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 childlike innocence and the recondite mysteries of the soul.

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.