Juxtapoz Magazine – Gregory Rick’s “Party at Megiddo” @ BEYOND THE STREETS, Los Angeles

Past THE STREETS is pleased to announce Occasion at Megiddo, the LA solo debut from Oakland-based visual artist Gregory Rick. A  receiver of SFMOMA’s 2022 SECA Art Award, the latest graduate of Stanford University’s MFA artwork practice plan, and participant in Beyond THE STREETS’ inaugural Put up Graffiti exhibition, Rick will showcase a new selection of work that builds on the style of history painting, describing his art as checking out “the identified, the obscure, and the forgotten”, although questioning the who’s and why’s of heritage.

A indigenous of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rick’s work is encouraged by private ordeals, but is not totally personalized. It tells tales that reflect his lifestyle as it relates to a dialogue with the broader planet. The place fantasy presents voice to the underbelly, the lumpen in tandem displaying the common and grandiose. His get the job done tethers with each other seemingly opposing strategies concerning the personalized, the historic and the political. 

“I’m portray on a shaky historic line cemented in humility and conviction. I occupy my photographs with people who provide as archetypes in conjunction with memory and self-exploration reflecting on the absurdness and monumentality of background,” Rick shares.

The title for Rick’s exhibit combines two text that appear to be inextricably opposing yet cemented in cognitive dissonance. Megiddo is a reference to the fight of Armageddon, being the metropolis in which the great final battle was prophesied to occur. It references a social gathering at the ultimate struggle of humanity, questioning the unsure instances we are living in, exactly where we swiftly feed the fireplace of the anthropocene, on cruise manage in the quick lane to extinction with these types of reckless ferocity it virtually looks as if we are celebrating our individual demise. The exhibition has number of responses but alternatively demonstrates and fosters quite a few thoughts as Rick ponders a important component of this present-day minute.

Rick’s fondness for art commenced all-around the time his father was sentenced to prison for manslaughter. It served as equally a indicates of attaining company in a chaotic childhood – as 1 has manage of the narrative in one’s own photos – and as a connection with his father by the meticulous copying of illustrations from an aged armed forces encyclopedia that he still left guiding in advance of being incarcerated. When colleges in his location stopped giving art classes, Rick turned infatuated with the artwork that was commonly out there, which was graffiti. He would devote his existence to deciphering the cryptic language, which led to issues with the legislation, like costs that ended up eventually cleared soon after Rick enlisted in the Military. There he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, with whom he fought in Iraq from 2005 to 2006. 

Just after his enlistment time period was up, Rick found it tough to change back again to his outdated existence and eventually found himself homeless and battling with a amount of difficulties. He nevertheless carried all-around pen and paper and would draw for the very same reasons that inspired him in his youth. All through this seminal position in his lifetime, he sought enable from the nearby Veterans Affairs office, where artwork turned a crucial part of his recovery.

“Gregory Rick’s function speaks about electricity and anguish, great and evil. About resiliency. He contextualizes these narratives by mining the complexities of our collective previous and sharing perspectives generally omitted in historical accounts. His ability to glow a light-weight on the oppressed and forgotten is a triumph that we’re very pleased and psyched to share with Los Angeles,” states gallery director Dante Parel. 

Past THE STREETS Gallery
434 N La Brea Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90036