Ryan Foerster and seven pieces shaped by hurricane Sandy, currently at Galerie Bugada & Cargnel in Paris

A series of seven works by the Canadian artist Ryan Foerster (born 1983) are now on show at Galerie Bugada & Cargnel in Paris. They are part of a group exhibition which gathers photographic works made through the interaction between photosensitive material, sunlight, and various organic elements.

With regards to Ryan Foerster’s works, however, this is not the main feature we would underline. Even if his photographic images are the result of a long process of exposure of their support to terrain, grass, stones and other natural elements, they fall outside the boundaries of so-called “process-based art.” On the contrary, they ought to be considered information based.

The writings Hanna Buonaguro composed in occasion of the artist’s solo shows at Martos gallery and C L E A R I N G (both in 2012) are what we call the artwork’s software. She describes herself as “sentimentally involved with the artist”, and her texts are, in effect, a sentimental introduction without which it would be hard to grasp the real essence of the pieces.

A text, written by Foerster himself in this case, is also the conceptual frame of a collective show curated by the artist in 2011 at Brighton Beach, CA, where he was based at that time (Sam Falls, Ben Schumacher, Aaron Bobrow, Jacob Kassasy, Matt Scheridan Smith and Elaine Cameron-Weir were among the invited artist’s friends).

It is indeed information that actually gives identity to the artist’s work. For example, It certainly makes a difference to know that the seven photographic images, now on show in Paris, were exposed to the hurricane Sandy, a natural disaster charged with symbolism and personal histories, whose presence in the artwork fills it with content, elevating the pieces from mere aestheticisms.

March 13, 2021