ABOUT
Ryan Hackett
Born 1976 | Berkeley, CA
Ryan Hackett is an artist, designer, and educator based in Washington, DC. He received his MFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 2007, and his BA in studio art from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1999. In early 2000, he co-founded Decatur Blue, a Washington DC-based artist collective that existed at times as artist, curator, and independent exhibition space.
His work has been featured in exhibitions internationally including the permanent collection of the U.S. Department of State's Art in Embassies program at the U.S. Embassy in Madagascar. In 2010, Hackett was awarded the Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize for his exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Past shows include Natural Synthetics at the Arsenal Gallery in Central Park, NYC, Interspecies Transmission at G Fine Art in Washington, DC. Mutual Friends at Present Co. Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, Catalyst at the AU Museum/Katzen in Washington, DC, and Beyond Human at Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA.
Focus
I am drawn to the forms, colors, and sounds of both natural and artificial environments, often synthesizing them into quiescent states of transformation and connection. My work often finds root in elements that survive in the background, the sub layers, or less dominant areas of our human experience. Bottom dwelling fish, lichen, electric bass players, microscopic organisms, and subtle behavioral patterns are just a few of the influences that surface throughout my work.
A variety of materials and methods are used to sample, transform, and connect natural and artificial stimuli, dissolving the imagined boundary between them. The work pushes and pulls between the raw and the streamlined, the wild and the controlled, finding connection through the juxtaposition of disparate elements. Endlessly adrift in the unknown, contrast provides psychological clarity; allowing us to understand what something is, by embracing what it is not.
-Ryan Hackett
Ryan Hackett
Born 1976 | Berkeley, CA
Education
2007 M.F.A., San Francisco Art Institute; San Francisco, CA 1999 B.A., Studio Art, University of Maryland; College Park, MD 1995 Rutgers University; New Brunswick, NJ
Selected Exhibitions
2019
16th Annual Silent Auction to benefit Transformer, Corcoran Gallery of Art, DC
2017-18
The Dog and Pony Show, Area 405, Baltimore, MD Outside Narratives, CUA, Washington, DC Silent Auction to benefit Transformer, American University Museum, Washington, DC
2016
Silent Auction to benefit Transformer, American University Museum, Washington, DC
2013-2014
Beyond Human, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
2012
Mutual Friends, Present Company, Brooklyn, NY Los Angeles Art Show, 2012, Los Angeles, CA LUX, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD Signals, DCAC, Washington, DC PpPp, Present Company, Brooklyn, NY
2011
natural synthetics, The Arsenal Gallery, Central Park, NYC Transformer's Silent Auction, Corcoran Gallery of Art, DC Dutch Auction 2011, Jane Haslem Gallery; Washington, DC
2010
US Department of State, Permanent Collection, United States Embassy; Antananarivo, Madagascar Catalyst, American Art Museum, Washington DC Neon Gore, Space 9; Kyongbuk University, Daegu, South Korea The Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize 2010, Baltimore Museum of Art; Baltimore, MD Transformer's Silent Auction, Mexican Cultural Institute, DC Maryland Art Place Silent Auction, MAP Gallery; Baltimore, MD
2009
Atmospheres, Doyo; Daegu, South Korea MGM Grand, Project City Center Permanent Collection, Las Vegas, NV Red Tape > Ryan Hackett, Meat Market; Washington, DC The Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize 2009, Baltimore Museum of Art; Baltimore, MD WPA Silent Auction, American University Museum; Washington, DC
2008
Root Division’s 7th Annual Art Auction, Root Division; San Francisco, CA Interspecies Transmission, Solo Show, G Fine Art; Washington, DC The Sky Is Falling, Spur Projects; Portola Valley, CA
2007
Evolutions of Paint and Sound, Solo Show, Spur Projects; Portola Valley, CA Freaks of Nature, Bronx River Art Center; Bronx, NY Taste, Root Division; San Francisco, CA Vernissage, SFAI MFA Exhibition; San Francisco, CA
2006
Recent Graduate Work, Diego Rivera Gallery; San Francisco, CA Impressive Nature, 1015 Folsom; San Francisco, CA Woodlands, Swell Gallery; San Francisco, CA
2005
Blueprints for Sleepwalking, Gensler; Washington, DC Cubicle 10, Curated by Billy Colbert, Cubicle 10; Baltimore, MD
2004
Omniart 2 (during Art Basel Miami), Curated by Tina Spiro; Miami, FL Silent Auction To Benefit Transformer Gallery, Fusebox; Washington, DC CORE 13, Core; Washington, DC Anonymous, Flashpoint; Washington, DC Plastic Tactics, Curated By Andrea Polan, Artscape; Baltimore, MD Resolutionz, Decatur Blue @ Signal 66; Washington, DC
2003
Easy Dubbing, Curated by Mario Cader-Frech (during Art Basel Miami), 1674 Meridian; Miami Beach, FL Space Invaders, Tyler School of Art; Philadelphia, PA Danger, San Joaquin Delta College; Stockton, CA Baba, Decatur Blue @ Signal 66; Washington, DC Art Night: Annual Auction and Exhibition, Hickock, Warner, and Cole Architecture Firm; Washington, DC
2002
Curator’s Choice: The WPA\C’s 2002 Auction Exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art; Washington, DC Savage Love, Signal 66; Washington, DC Art Night: Annual Auction and Exhibition, Hickock, Warner, and Fox Architecture Firm; Washington, DC
2001
Lucky 7, Millennium Art Center; Washington, DC Rug Burn, Decatur Blue Event at Adams Morgan Warehouse; Washington, DC Art Night: Annual Auction and Exhibition, Hickock, Warner, and Fox Architecture Firm; Washington, DC Recent Treatments of Tranquility, Monterey; Washington, DC Distance, Decatur Blue; Washington, DC Talavera’s Review, Decatur Blue; Washington, DC
2000
Aids Action/ Starwood Urban: Evening of the Arts, Dual Exhibition: Aids Action/ Starwood Urban; Washington, DC Penta Luna, Decatur Blue; Washington, DC Art Night: Auction and Exhibition, Hickock, Warner, and Fox Architecture Firm; Washington, DC Art-O-Matic, Washington, DC Art Romp, The Warehouse; Washington, DC Decatur Blue Inaugural Show, Decatur Blue; Washington, DC
1999
Fast Forward: The WPA/Corcoran 20th Anniversary Exhibition and Auction, Corcoran Gallery of Art; Washington, DC
Honors and Achievements
Recipient of The Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize 2010 Graduate Fellowship, San Francisco Art Institute 2005-2007
Articles
McCabe, Bret. “The Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize Finalists Exhibition,” Baltimore City Paper. (July 8, 2009) Smith, Tim. “A Collage Of Ideas,” The Baltimore Sun. (June 28, 2009) Judkis, Maura. “Creating A Buzz,” The Onion (A.V. Section). (September 25, 2008) Mahoney, J.W. “Report From Washington D.C., To a Different Drum,” Art in America (May 2008) Donohoe, Victoria. “Space Invaders,” Philadelphia Inquirer. (September 21, 2003) Dawson, Jessica. “Decatur: An Intermittent Turn-On,” The Washington Post. (February 6, 2003) Jenkins, Mark. “Resolutionz,” Washington City Paper. (December 26, 2003) Franke-Ruta, Garance. “Distance,” Washington City Paper. (January 11, 2002) Foster, Margaret. “House of Blues: On U Street, five guys dream a little about D.C.’s alternative arts scene,” Washington Flyer Magazine. (October 2001) Dawson, Jessica. “A Space of Their Own: At Decatur Blue, Art Minus the Middleman.” The Washington Post. (November 30, 2000)