Ryan Quentin Got 'Em, Got 'Em, Need 'Em

Atrium

Ryan’s journey as an artist began with his father, best described as the hard-nosed type who was molded from the old school. His dad loved restoring cars, fishing, hunting and sports. Like most people in Ryan’s hometown, his “old man” held a blue-collar job working at one of the paper mills, and every so often, his dad would return from his shift with huge reams of paper for his kid to draw on. 

Ryan grew up in a small northern Ontario town where the winters were so bad the Dairy Queen sign read, “Come try a Blizzard indoors.” No joke. And when it got too cold to be outside, Ryan and his dad would spend time together collecting hockey cards, building model airplanes or drawing pictures on those reams of paper. Unbeknownst to Ryan, this was the beginning of his lifelong relationship with art.

Rather than bore you with a history of Ryan’s art education, exhibitions, or published works, on a personal level, Ryan is a member of a tight-knit family, all of whom are international travellers and devoted to their privately run art development center. While he spends time between cities, Ryan’s focus has been on mentoring others over the past few decades. With his time dedicated towards helping young artists, he never prioritized his own work, that is, until the pandemic hit. Being confined indoors for long stretches, Ryan channelled the boredom of lockdown into doing something creative.
 
As a former hockey player and passionate fan of the game, Ryan turned towards produce works that were indicative of the sport he loved. The game of hockey is a combination of skill, precision, movement, and (mostly) controlled aggression. His recent series of acrylic paintings embrace that spirit. The body of work before you consists of iconic players, both past and contemporary, that are presented in their team colours, complete with logo and jersey number. The dimensions of the paintings are like an enlarged hockey card, a nod to those times Ryan spent with his father. The formal elements of colour, shape and line transform the players into geometric compositions that power the work with energy and movement. Inspirationally speaking, there’s a hint of the hard-edged style of a Ruscha with the pop feel of a Warhol.

A mix of the contemporary and the traditional, this exhibition is part of an ever-evolving journey. As Ryan continues along his artistic path, he finds himself exploring other avenues of expressing sports and the personalities that bring life and energy to them. Whether you love ‘em, hate ‘em, got ‘em or need ‘em, the game goes on.

Ryan Quentin - Artist Statement
With so much going on in the world today, one of the rare variables that ostensibly bring our communities together is sport. As a Canadian, hockey is right up there, but it’s just one of the many sports that I’m passionate about. My artwork and enthusiasm for sport is simply an extension of the players that I respect and admire.

Over the years, I’ve presented sports themed work in a variety of different styles. In my geometric series, for example, the formal elements of colour and shape play an important role as they simplify the figures into a geometric framework. Not wanting to limit myself, I’ve created works that combine different materials, mediums, and methods. In doing so, I’ve been able explore alternate avenues to express ideas.

Historically speaking, artists like Ruscha, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Picasso and de Lempicka have all found their way into my work. This is what the bulk of work, which was produced during the Covid lockdown, derives their artistic inspiration from. The players in this series are all broken down into geometric shapes. Values are isolated while vibrant colors provide the energy and emotional impact.

Post pandemic, I started producing works that incorporate material into the mix. Painted in acrylic, 100/99 presents the image of The Great One over top of 100 Gretzky cards, none of which are duplicates. Gotta Win It To Be In It, is an exploration in collage and consists solely of players – cut out from their respective cards – that have won the Stanley Cup over the past 10 years. The collaged cup was constructed to scale so that viewers could relate to the 90 cm high Holy Grail of Hockey in realistic terms.

My father, being the early inspiration that he was, prompted me to create two art card sets for this exhibition. I created something that identified with the days I spent with my father, a personal reference in terms of where my artistic journey began. The first set feature a 25 card collection that showcases 20 of the 25 works showcased in this exhibition, while the second set is an 8 card tribute to Alex Ovechkin, arguably the greatest goal scorer ever. Each card is hand signed, numbered and originally designed. And of course, there’s a checklist.

Sports themed content aside, my work is predicated on experimenting with different mediums and methods, while at the same time, tying my inspiration into my craft. Thanks for stopping by to enjoy the art. 

If you want to see more, feel free to take a deep dive via my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/ryanquentinarts/