Jim Ricks
Birth placeSan Francisco, California, United States
Alma materCalifornia College of the Arts,
National University of Ireland, Galway
Burren College of Art
Known forPoulnabrone Bouncy Dolmen, In Search of the Truth, Carpet Bombing
Websitejimricks.info

Jim Ricks is an American conceptual artist, writer, and curator. He has exhibited internationally, including public art projects.[1][2]

Early life and education

Ricks was born in San Francisco, California.[3] He started painting graffiti in the early 1990s.[4] He studied photography at the California College of the Arts (2002), and received a Masters from the National University of Ireland, Galway/Burren College of Art programme (2007).[5][6][7][8][9]

Career

Ricks utilises appropriation, institutional critique, politics, and humour.[3][10] He has had solo shows in the United States, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Mexico.[11]

Ricks was a director of 126 Artist-run Gallery from 2007 to 2009, curating and working with artist-run spaces.[12] Under Stephanie Syjuco, he created knock-offs of work at the Frieze Art Fair in London, 2009.[13][14]

In an ongoing body of work, "Jim Ricks has developed the method of synchro-materialism as a means to consider the territory where art meets capitalism", and he has used this methodology since 2010.[15][16] In 2015, in Afghanistan, he made Carpet Bombing, a traditionally fabricated carpet with military drones imagery – an update of Afghan's war rugs.[17][18] He participated in the 2017 Ghetto Biennale, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.[19]

Public projects

  • Poulnabrone Bouncy Dolmen is a large inflatable sculpture designed to play on.[20][8] It is a double-size replica of the Poulnabrone Dolmen in The Burren. It has traveled around Ireland since June 2011.[21][22] Cristín Leach of The Sunday Times wrote:
    "Poulnabrone Bouncy Dolmen... is a commentary on our past, our present, the concept of "brand Ireland" and the very idea of public art; and everyone is invited to bounce. A temporary, movable, witty, interactive, contemporary public artwork we are all invited to play with? [Alice] Maher has endorsed it as "the best public art piece...ever". She might just be right."[23]
    It was shown with Jeremy Deller's 2012 inflatable Stonehenge in Belfast,[22][24] and in the Royal Hibernian Academy.[5][25][6]
  • Ricks worked on the global public art project In Search of the Truth (or En Busca de la Verdad ) with Ryan Alexiev, Hank Willis Thomas .[26][27][28] The New York Times writes: "The "Truth Booth"... in the shape of a cartoon word bubble with "TRUTH" in bold letters on its side, serves as a video confessional. Visitors are asked to sit inside and finish the politically and metaphysically loaded sentence that begins, "The truth is ..."".[29] The project has travelled Ireland, Afghanistan, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Mexico,[30][31] recording and then exhibiting the thoughts of many people on the subject of truth in several countries.[32][33][34]
  • Life's a Beach (Art imitates life), Gable end mural responding to the political Murals in Northern Ireland, Abercorn Rd., Derry, Northern Ireland, April 2016[35]
  • Sesiones Publicas, San Agustín, La Lisa, Cuba, a LASA project, August 2017.[36]

Museum projects

Ricks was involved in Sleepwalkers (2012–15), at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. Artists were invited to an "unusual experiment in exhibition production".[37] This included an unauthorised exhibition, an open call,[38] a solo show (Bubblewrap Game: Hugh Lane),[39] and closing performances.[40] Aidan Dunne of the Irish Times describes Ricks's offerings as a "a museum within the museum"[10] During the programme, he also included works by Richard Hamilton (artist), James Barry, Jeremy Deller, Gerard Dillon, Robert Ballagh, Raphaël Zarka, and James Hanley.[41][42]

Ricks was part of Age of Terror: Art since 9/11 at the Imperial War Museum, London, 2018–19.[43]

He exhibited work made in Afghanistan with Ryan Alexiev, Hank Willis Thomas, and Najeebullah Najeeb at the Trotsky Museum in Mexico City in 2022.[44][45]

Solo exhibitions

Bibliography

  • Ricks, Jim (Editor), Artist-run democracy: sustaining a model, 15 years of 126 gallery, Eindhoven: Onomatopee, 2022. ISBN 9789493148734[50]
  • de Búrca, Ella, Michaële Cutaya, Jim Ricks. IRLDADA: 201916. Mexico City: Black Crown Press, 2019. ISBN 9780578546940, ISBN [51]
  • Ricks, Jim. Alien Invader Super Baby (Synchromaterialism VI). Eindhoven: Onomatopee, 2018. ISBN 9789491677755
  • Packer, Matt, Declan Long, and Jim Ricks. "Here Comes The Summer", Derry: Centre for Contemporary Art Derry~Londonderry, 2017.
  • Bossan, Enrico. 2016 an image of Ireland : contemporary artists from Ireland. Crocetta del Montello: Antiga edizioni, 2016. ISBN 9788899657185
  • Edited by Michael Dempsey and Logan Sisley. Sleepwalkers. Dublin: Hugh Lane Gallery and Ridinghouse, 2015. ISBN 9781905464982

See also

References

  1. ^ "Future Artist-Maker Labs". futureartistmakers.org. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  2. ^ "Mexico City roundup - Features - art-agenda". www.art-agenda.com. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  3. ^ "Ricks takes art to a new form". The Clare Champion. 2010-10-28. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  4. ^ Chen, Wei-Huan. "Graffiti warfare". Journal & Courier. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  5. ^ "The Poulnabrone Bouncy Dolmen". publicart. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  6. ^ Rainsford, John (28 October 2010). "Ricks takes art to a new form". The Clare Champion. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Working in tandem from across the divide". The Clare Champion. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Sleepwalkers: Jim Ricks – Bubblewrap Game: Hugh Lane". hughlane. 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  9. ^ "CCA alums at the heart of public art in NYC". CCA. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
  10. ^ Dunne, Aidan. "Sleepwalkers: Artistic experiments in biting the hand that feeds". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  11. ^ "Proyecto interactivo mundial de arte "En Busca de la Verdad" llega a la Plaza de la Democracia en Puebla - Puebla - Cultura" (in es-ES). La Jornada de Oriente. 2018-10-08. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  12. ^ "Circa Art Magazine - Rayne Booth's blog - The year of the exchange (Friday 1 May 2009)". 2013-04-06. Archived 6 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  13. ^ Mahoney, Donald (23 October 2009). "The Art of Imitation". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  14. ^ Syjuco, Stephanie (8 November 2009). "Frieze-ing in London (pt 2): postface". SFMOMA. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Jim Ricks—Synchromaterialism". Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  16. ^ "ALIEN INVADER SUPER BABY (SYNCHROMATERIALISM IV)". Retrieved 14 December 2018.[dead link]
  17. ^ Salomone, Andrew (23 August 2016). "This Handmade Rug Is a Drone Survival Guide". The Creators Project. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Despite its flaws, 'Age of Terror: Art since 9/11' is a timely reflection of artists' responses to conflict - DesignCurial". www.designcurial.com. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  19. ^ "Fifth Edition of Ghetto Biennale Announces Participating Artists". Artforum. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  20. ^ Siggins, Lorna (28 August 2010). "'Bouncy dolmen' goes on show". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  21. ^ "Bouncy megalith comes to the Aughtys". The Clare Champion. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  22. ^ Higgins, Charlotte (2 May 2012). "Glaswegian shoes come off for bouncy Stonehenge". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  23. ^ Leach, Cristín (5 June 2011). "Let's hear it for the still, beating heart of our artistic landscape". The Sunday Times
  24. ^ Murphy, Liz (18 May 2012). "Karla, Jeremy and Margaret (my Mum)". A-N Magazine. #90, June 2012: 30. – via Issuu.
  25. ^ "Bouncy Tomb Tours Ireland". Make. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  26. ^ "IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH | CAUSE COLLECTIVE"
  27. ^ "In Search of the Truth"
  28. ^ "Jim Ricks". artnet.com. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  29. ^ Randy Kennedy. Political Art in a Fractious Election Year "The New York Times", 17 July 2016
  30. ^ "Cause Collective: In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth)". Public Art Fund. 8 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  31. ^ Corcoran, Georgia (April 30, 2014). "To tell the Truth". Visual Artists' News Sheet
  32. ^ Paul, Laster (12 August 2014). "Art Basel Visitors Tell All in Hank Willis Thomas' 'Truth Booth'". Observer. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  33. ^ "In Search of the Truth: The Truth Booth by Cause Collective". Bomb. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  34. ^ "In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth)". Galway International Arts Festival. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  35. ^ Quinn, Andrew (6 May 2016). "Abercorn Road Mural Unveiled". Derry Journal. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  36. ^ "Jim Ricks (Estados Unidos/Irlanda/México)". LASA. 11 August 2017.
  37. ^ "Sleepwalkers: Production as Process". Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  38. ^ "Sleepwalkers: Future Perfect". Hugh Lane. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  39. ^ "Sleepwalkers: Jim Ricks – Bubblewrap Game: Hugh Lane". Hugh Lane. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  40. ^ "Everything must go now". Hugh Lane. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  41. ^ "Sleepwalkers". Sleepwalkers. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  42. ^ Edited by Dempsey, Michael, and Logan Sisley. Sleepwalkers. Dublin: Hugh Lane Gallery and Ridinghouse, 2015. ISBN 9781905464982
  43. ^ Rae, Cormac (February 21, 2018). "Despite its flaws, 'Age of Terror: Art since 9/11' is a timely reflection of artists' responses to conflict". DesignCurial. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  44. ^ "EXPOSICIONES". museotrotsky.org.mx. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  45. ^ Museos, De. "Entrevista | Los caminos de la verdad de Jim Ricks" (in es-MX). De Museos. Archived 5 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  46. ^ "MutualArt.com - The Web's Largest Art Information Service.". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  47. ^ "Jim Ricks reinterpreta a Sebastián" (in Spanish). 28 May 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  48. ^ "Así luce la democracia: la exposición de Jim Ricks en la galería Daniela Elbahara" (in Spanish). revistacodigo.com. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  49. ^ Museos, De. "Entrevista | Los caminos de la verdad de Jim Ricks" (in es-MX). De Museos. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  50. ^ "Artist-run democracy: sustaining a model | Onomatopee". www.onomatopee.net. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  51. ^ Ricks, Jim; Cutaya, Michaële; Búrca, Ella de (2019-09-21). Irldada: 201916. Black Crown Press. ISBN 9780578546940.