Ripon College Days

Self-portrait. Visiting artist Tony Ryan paints the extraordinary elements of the ordinary world such as love, child-rearing and death. [Click to enlarge]

While the jazz ensemble played in the background, visitors looked upon drawings of Irish artist Tony Ryan that hung on the walls of the Caestecker Gallery Friday, where the opening and artist's reception was held.

Ryan worked toward a degree in biochemistry, but returned to art years later. "I went back to art college at age thirty and I've never been happier," he says.

Ryan's work features figurative drawings, which are divided into three categories that represent three distinct periods of his life.

The three periods shown are Death of My Parents (1979-1982), Swedish Summer (1996-1999) and Frieze of Life (1999-present).

"I am struck by the courageousness and tenderness of the work," says Gene Kain, visiting associate professor of art and gallery director.

But some other gallery goers didn't share the sentiment.

Sophomore Jackie Laffitte was taken back by Ryan's segment Death of My Parents, where he shows drawings he did of his parents before and after their death.

She says, "It's interesting to see someone's feelings of death portrayed through art, but why would you draw that?"

Ryan answers this question in the program designed for his visit. He writes, "Death is simply a part of living, it is to be embraced and to be allowed to enrich our living with its own bittersweet quality."

The second period of drawings, entitled Swedish Summer, includes drawings from 27 years worth of sketchbooks Ryan kept during summers he spent in Sweden.

The drawings are framed, but tattered edges provide evidence they have indeed been ripped from sketchbooks.

These pieces give the viewer a glimpse into how the artist spent his summers in Sweden. They include landscapes and scenes he saw in Sweden.

The final portion of the collection, Frieze of Life, centers on self-portraits of the artist.

One of the self-portraits is quite recent, and Ryan says of it, "I think and I hope that the portrait deserves to be here." This portrait was drawn after Ryan was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

It "is part of my life," Ryan writes of his illness. "Drawing has become a chance encounter with the charcoal stick, the exploitation of accidents and the liberal use of the eraser. The drawing is a battleground."

In his speech Friday night he added, "Parkinson's has affected my ability to draw. I'm just grateful to still be able to paint."

Ryan's show runs through Dec. 5 in the Caestecker Art Gallery.

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