Empowerment
Ryder Richards
CASP Studios [link]
Lubbock, Texas
Dec 7 – 22, 2018
curated by J. Eric Simpson
As a previous Lubbock-ite, Ryder decided it would be fitting to generate “free power” at a high cost and net loss by building a DIY wind turbine. Made from a motorized bike wheel, lots of YouTube videos, and an excess of time the exhibit is Ryder’s participation in the psychopathology of DIY citizenry.
The online DIY community has helped me to be fulfilled. My new focus on tangible problems and solutions removes the need for problematic discourse, and making something cool is empowering. And anyway, I’m helping the economy with lots of Amazon and Home Depot purchases.
Ryder Richards being sarcastic
Press
Ryder Richards is a Dallas-based artist, writer, and occasional curator. He co-curated Boom Town at the Dallas Museum of Art, directed The Cube in Roswell, New Mexico as part of a one-year artist-in-residence program, and co-developed the RJP Nomadic Gallery. He has shown work in London, Germany, Spain, China, Greece, and across the United States. Ryder has been a member/founder of several collaborative art groups including The Art Foundation and Culture Laboratory, as well as participating in the Texas Biennial 2011 and 2013 and the Dallas Biennial 2012 and 2014.
Ryder taught college art for ten years, travels, attends art residencies, and writes the occasional art review, which prompted him to found EUTOPIA: Contemporary Art Reviews.