Kyle Ranson's paintings usually use a vibrant smorgasbord of colour, giving
them an initial sunny feeling but, as always, there are tricks hidden
in the detail. Faces made up of rainbows have scared and sad eyes; candy-pink bodies are deformed, decapitated, violated; beautiful nudes have dark blood pouring down the inside of their cream-coloured legs.
Raised by an "encouraging hippie mother" in Manhattan, Ranson had lived in a bunch of US cities before settling in San Francisco, a place that he says he has a love/hate relationship with. Ranson alludes to a very troubled past in interviews and descriptions of paintings and says that now "the world no longer looks like an open grave... Now it looks like an unopened present."
A firm believer that art should antagonise, confuse, question and challenge viewers, Ranson says he's not a big believer in "Feel Good Art" but despite some of his artworks having ominous, sinister, or upsetting undertones, they are still quite exquisite.
More at
kyledamonranson.com. Additional information from an interview at
myloveforyou.typepad.com.