Ryan Trecartin (B. 1981)

Trecartin’s figurative sculptures act as anchors within his shows, creating relationships and conversations with each other and with the viewer. He sees these exhibitions, which are produced collaboratively, as akin to theatre productions: the sculptures exist as props, memorabilia, or spin-offs after their contributions to the event. Outside the context of the installation, they occupy the gallery as potential viewers, a motley crew of freaks and weirdos, an exaggerated and humorous cross-section of society and stereotype. Poised between the familiar and the utterly surreal, each sculpture conveys a character or ‘type’ specially cast for the scene, like some TV sitcom character gone terribly awry. Abraham with the Long Arm, composed of papier-mâché, acrylic and synthetic hair, is the resident jerk: lampooning a certain kind of entitled white guy, he gropes across the floor with his monstrous limb, a genetic aberration bred for lechery.