Mark Ryden: Anima Animals

New Monograph
December 15, 2020
  • From his Snow Yak to his very personal interpretation of the California bear, for more than 20 years Mark Ryden...

    From his Snow Yak to his very personal interpretation of the California bear, for more than 20 years Mark Ryden has populated an incredible “pop surrealist” bestiary of half-animal, half-plush creatures. Inspired by the Rushton toys that enjoyed their heyday in America in the ’60s and ’70s, these creatures are now the object of a cult worship among fans of the artist, and are one of his marks of distinction in the world of contemporary art.

    This book reveals the details and backgrounds of the new paintings Mark Ryden has created for his 2020 show at Emmanuel Perrotin‘s gallery in Shanghai, organized in collaboration with Kasmin Gallery, but also some of his most iconic master-pieces showcasing yaks and other creatures of his own mythology. With a statement essay from the artist and an essay by the curator and writer, Linda Tesner, this book will become an instant classic for the lovers of contemporary art and surrealism.

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  • About the Artist

    Mark Ryden
    Portrait by Christopher French.

    Mark Ryden

    Blending themes of pop culture with techniques reminiscent of the old masters, Mark Ryden has devised a singular style that blurs traditional boundaries. His work first garnered attention in the 1990s as he ushered in a new genre of painting, “Pop Surrealism,” which developed the scope and spirit of the 20th century surrealism by embellishing its vocabulary with contemporary cultural references.

    Ryden’s work exquisitely renders a universe replete with fantastical characters amid enchanted landscapes that embody the artist’s meticulously realized signature blend of archetype, kitsch, and narrative mysticism. Ryden’s modern mythologies inseparably interweave twin senses of comfort and menace. “Most of my work engages with the relationship between the physical world and the spiritual world,” he has said. His are scenes that exist in the ambiguous space between these two realms, in which nostalgia—and by extension memory, even death—are ever-present.

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