A Cliff to Climb - Canada Online Viewing Room

Canada

Jan 27, 2022 - Mar 5, 2022

60 Lispenard Street

P: 212 925 4631

New York, NY

10013

canadanewyork.com

Ryan Preciado: A Cliff to Climb

Installation view of Ryan Preciado A Cliff to Climb

“I like moving, not being stuck in one place,” Ryan tells me. He spends most of his time on the Eastside, where he was born, though he grew up in Nipomo. Ryan describes his sculptures and furniture designs as “drawing with wood and metal.” He tells me about a recent piece, co-authored you might say, with car sensibilities. It’s a cabinet he designed at his friend José’s autobody shop in Boyle Heights. It’s an active shop and the cabinet is evidence of that variety of “chaos” Ryan says. “José constantly had cars coming in and out which meant I had to move around twenty times or so. I was chasing that high-gloss finish and still, there are imperfections. There’s something about that I like though.” As Ryan is describing the cabinet to me over the phone, he witnesses an accident. “A guy just crunched his car,” he tells me. “He hit a telephone pole and left.” I ask if the guy seems okay and Ryan says yes. A minute or so later, Ryan sees the driver again. He’s pulled over on the side of the street, examining his car, a little bewildered as to what just occurred. I’m picturing the driver’s state of surprise, as observed by Ryan and recounted to me, nearly three thousand miles away.

Ryan considers himself a deeply curious person. “Part of what I do is just stare at things, not even questioning why. I take photos of, like, the grip of a hammer, everyday objects, you know? It’s exciting when a bent trashcan turns into an idea.” I wonder if the pole that “crunched” the car will provide a point of entry for Ryan and I start imagining what kind of idea might pass into being and become his next design. Mostly, though, I’m just thinking about the word crunched, how it sounds regional—faithful to a place where cars rule. Slam, I figure, simply wouldn’t suit. Not on Ryan’s coast anyways.

In no particular order, here are other things that inspire Ryan: lowriders; misremembered lyrics; his Chumash heritage; the Pope’s mitre (which Ryan says gave way to one of his keyhole-shaped cabinet designs); the guys and their trucks in Huntington Park who Ryan loves to watch “tie things down;” chicken feet; caution tape made to look like birthday ribbon on broken glass; murals of the Virgin of Guadalupe; a photograph from his childhood of Ryan and his mother rollerblading at an indoor rink. She’s smiling with her arms wide open. You can see Ryan in a yellow jersey not far behind her, catching up. The photograph is joyful, approximating infinity. Ryan, it turns out, has sketched a shelf born of that same ecstasy. I soon learn that Ryan’s family often enters the picture.

(Excerpt by Durga Chew-Bose from a forthcoming publication accompanying the exhibition.)

Ryan Preciado (b. 1989, El Monte, Los Angeles) lives and works in Los Angeles. A furniture designer trained in carpentry, Preciado has used wood in one way or another for the last twelve years. His work is inspired by his family history of Chumash, Native American and Mexican heritage. Fueled by an ongoing relationship to the violence of assimilation in the United States, Preciado curated “Downhearted Duckling" at the South Willard Gallery in Los Angeles featuring Diana Yesenia Alvarado, Mario Ayala, Rafa Esparza, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, and Alfonso Gonzalez Jr. A Cliff to Climb is Preciado’s first gallery exhibition.