Upcoming Solo Show — fine artist Dennis Ryan

WHEN: March 25th to April 23rd, 2011
WHERE: Gallery On High, Pottstown, PA

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Upcoming artist show in Pottstown, PA, at The Gallery On High, called "A Journey Through Anxiety".

As a fine artist in 2010, I had my artwork in art shows, on TV, on the front page of the newspaper and even on the radio! And these are all great, but I have a feeling that this upcoming combination of education and fine art show will top all I did in 2010, because it could actually help people.

And the way it will work is: I will go to The Gallery On High's school component about a month before the show and I will give a talk... hold an education session for an hour or so. In a sense, this is where I sit down with folks, of various age groups, that have been diagnosed with mental disorders/mental challenges — been given the 'labels' (i.e. Schizophrenia, anxiety, OCD, depression — a lot of these people are even on medications), and I will introduce traditional art examples to them, even show a few of the popular artists of the last century, and then go on to promote that this is not the ONLY definition of what art is or can be. My goal of this talk is to demonstrate arts usefulness as a tool: to help alleviate anxiety, to express abstract thoughts, to access its therapeutic benefits. Especially with respect to anxiety; in addition to tools like communication (talking about mental issues with someone), medication, deep breathing, etc., art can be an additional - powerful - tool to help and/or simply exercise the mind (AKA mental health).

I will then talk about my process as an artist and show a piece or two of my fine art. The group will then start to think about how they can use these techniques to create works that can alleviate or desensitize their anxieties, mental discomforts and disorders. They will then make their art on (estimated) 20'' x 20" canvases.

I will return to the school for another 1 hour group session to see what they created and to talk about the successes of such.

So here's my synopsis of how the session will likely go:

1. What is Art - dispel the traditional thoughts and show diversity - visual presentation - projection... some images - Van Gogh, Close, Pollock (5 min)
   
2. My work, [it] as art, concepts - my process, how art can help the mind, any mind (example: to desensitize oneself to ones fears). (10 min)
   
3. My process - abstract thought/concept, sketch it out/development, ideas for implementation, create, final piece. (15 min)
4. Q & A - ask "clients" what 'thoughts' they would like to 'see'? Abstract - to - tangible. Out in the open... exposed... easier to deal with, talk about. How can best convey these with art? What mediums? What technique/style? (30 min)
5. Students start their pieces.
6. Critique, discussion and wrap up. (1 hour)

For more information on the show: http://www.galleryonhigh.com/events.html

3 Faucets Triptych has been accepted for upcoming show—O.C.D

A few months back I got an invitation to submit my art to an upcoming exhibition in NE, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I came across your website through a basic Google search for artists related to this topic, and I enjoy your work quite a bit. I will be co-curating this exhibition and I feel your "OCD Art" series of works would be a perfect match. The show opens on Friday, November 5, 2010 and will run for approximately one month.

Since the show is right up my 'alley' and aims to help raise awareness and educate its audience as to what OCD is, I obviously said yes.

I just got word last week that my artwork was accepted and will span approximately 9 feet of wall space. I submitted a brand new version of 3 Faucets for this show. It is a Triptych (collection of 3 giclee prints of 3 Faucets hung together) that will drive home the obsessive compulsive concepts by having three in a row; to repeat the repetitiveness of the compulsions people experience.

A mock-up of the piece is shown below:
More information on the show:
Opening Reception
Friday, November 5, 2010 - 7pm-10pm
http://www.alteredesthetics.com/events/72
Altered Esthetics
1224 Quincy St NE
Minneapolis, MN
612.378.8888

My art, The OCD Project & The Sunday News

I, well, mostly my art, got a brilliant writeup in The Lancaster [PA] Sunday News this past Father's Day.

The article was penned by Stephen Kopfinger; who did a great article on OCD Camp (with Dr. Oz and Philadelphia anxiety expert Dr. Jonathan Grayson). OCD Camp was a special, similar to that of The OCD Project, that ran on Oprah in 2008.

My favorite excerpt from the article was probably this:

"Those levels tie together in such works as "3 Faucets," which at first blush looks like a benign, if abstract, representation of folded hands. But in the light of OCD: Are those hands clasped in prayer and contemplation, or engaged in frantic washing? The painting (actually a giclée print of the original) hangs prominently on a hallway wall in the house."

But there were so many snippets from the news correspondent that I enjoyed. Thanks Stephen and The Lancaster Sunday News team!

Just launched TheOCDProject.com

Your definitive source for all things OCD Project: theocdproject.com

The OCD Project—art, artist, artwork

The images below are of the actual giclée prints that were picked to be on The OCD Project.

Three of the five prints have already been acquired by some of The OCD Project's staff. The remaining two — exclusively signed and tagged with the show name — are available. If you are interested in seeing these prints or the original paintings then use this contact form to facilitate your request. This is a rare opportunity to own my artwork via archival prints; because I typically do not make prints of my fine art.

This Vh1 documentary OCD project follows 6 individuals, who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder, around while they engage in their rituals and compulsive behavior. I believe the show is a total culmination of 10 episodes, and will premiere May 27th, 2010 @ 10PM Eastern Standard Time. As far as I know the total time these folks were in treatment at the house, with Dr. David Tolin, was about 3 weeks.

For the record, I am thrilled to have my OCD art immortalized on such a fantastically wonderful endeavor: helping suffers of this mentally exhausting disorder find relief through ERP (exposure with response prevention therapy).

You can read more about my OCD Project here.

Why do you wear the chemical suit and gas mask?

More and more I get this question... Why the suit and mask Dennis?

The answer is in the audio of this recent radio interview I did with Chris Wakefield on Into The Night. If you don't have 45 minutes to listen to the entire broadcast, then the specific answer is @ 19:54.

effin-A... here comes The OCD Project!

The OCD Project Supertrailer

Dr. David Tolin will attempt to treat six patients with OCD in 21 days. Check out the premiere on Vh1 Thursday, May 27th at 10 et/pt!

I will watch and Tivo! Dr. Tolin is Brilliant -- nice work VH1.

I especially love the Fear Factor element… but I guess this is actually how Cognitive (active) Behavior Therapy actually works. Obsessive compulsive disorder is typically treated with this behavior therapy exposure, but with response prevention, like licking the bottom of your shoe, and then NOT running to the medicine cabinet for mouth wash.

Dennis Ryan Interview

Dennis Ryan interviewed by a GCSE student from London, England, United Kingdom, UK

Dennis, I am a student studying GCSE art. For my exam I have to produce a sketchbook and final piece on a chosen subject. I have chosen to study fears, phobias and superstitions. One of the criteria is to have written essays on at least three artists of choice. I was hoping to be able to get a short interview from you discussing yourself and your work regarding phobias to help me in writing this essay.

1. Where did you grow up and study at school?
   
   I grew up on the south side of Easton, Pennsylvania, and studied art, to be a fine artist, at two different colleges: Pennsylvania College of Art & Design and Millersville University.
   
   
2. Have you always shown such a strong interest in art, and intended to follow it as a career path?
   
   Yes and no. The interest has always been there, but it is actually more than an interest. Being artistic and creative is part of who I am; there is no way around it. So with all that said, I never really thought of what I do as a career... even when I make money at it. It is just what I do, because I am undoubtedly compelled to.
   
   
3. What lead you to art related to phobias and disorders?
   
   The profoundly interesting stories in my head and the desire to get them out create the concepts of my paintings.
   
   
4. Is there a history of any strong phobias or disorders in your family?
   
   Interesting question, but frankly - it doesn’t matter. In fact when you look at my art Dennis Ryan doesn’t even matter. The concepts are so much bigger than any one person or single family. These artistically expressed concepts are what matter most.
   
   
5. Do you have any phobias yourself, if so can you talk to me about them, do you gain inspiration from your own phobias?
   
   Same answer as above #4.
   
   
6. Regarding your line of work with the subject ‘phobias’ can you explain any symbolism you have included for example the use of cows?
   
   Divinity; innocence; perception; factory farming; phobias: meat, parasites, etc.
   
   
7. I understand you have drawn on experiences of phobias of others for these pieces, are there any specific cases which you have found affect you more deeply than others?
   
   Not really, but if I really think hard about it I would say that stories about youth suffering mentally impact me more than any others. It is a blessing to be young and have fun.
   
   
8. Are there any influential mentors or artists you have taken styles or ideas from, or who have affected your personal artistic career in any way?
   
   No. I purposefully stay a bit ignorant to the contemporary side of art and artists. What others are doing is irrelevant to my art and concepts. It would hold little importance, and be purely coincidental, if my art were ever compared to someone else’s.
   
   
9. Can you describe yourself in one sentence?
   
   No. Well maybe, but it would be a really long and complicated sentence.
   
   
10. If you could meet any one person, who would it be and why?
    
    Another good question that I never really considered, so – off the cuff – I would say Picasso; but, oddly enough he died 10 days before I was born, so doubt that will happen any time soon; unless one believes in reincarnation, then maybe I already know him.
    
    
11. Which is your favorite piece of art done by another artist and why?
    
    Never really thought about it... but now that I am thinking about it... I would say Pablo Picasso’s - The Old Guitarist; because it is so blue, and I stood about a foot away from the original when I was living in the Chicago, Il. area (The Art Institute of Chicago actual hangs it in a kind of claustrophobic feeling hallway/corner area, which luckily, forces the audience to get a incredibly close look!)
    
    
12. And finally, which is your favorite artwork of your own and why?
    
    Sensational - my most recent painting. And maybe my excitement about this piece is that it is freshest in my mind, or maybe because it is the first of my concepts to segue into video art, or maybe it is just sensational.

Global interest is building for conceptual artist Dennis Ryan

Google analytic's chart over last year. Most recently the United Kingdom, specifically London, has been sending an enormous amount of traffic to my artistic endeavors.

Crazy Train -- songs about psychological disorders

Fantastic audio and lyrics... classic song about mental disturbance.
"Mental wounds still screaming
Driving me insane
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train"

Ozzy Osbourne : Crazy Train Lyrics

All aboard

Crazy, but that's how it goes
Millions of people living as foes
Maybe it's not too late
To learn how to love
And forget how to hate

Mental wounds not healing
life's a bitter shame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train

I've listened to preachers
I've listened to fools
I've watched all the dropouts
Who make their own rules
One person conditioned to rule and control
The media sells it and you live the role

Mental wounds still screaming
Driving me insane
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train

I know that things are going wrong for me
You gotta listen to my words
Yeah

Heirs of a cold war
That's what we've become
Inheriting troubles I'm mentally numb
Crazy, I just can not bare
I'm living with something that just isn't fair

Mental wounds not healing
Who and what's to blame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train

Fine art on video

Conceptual art video presentation

Video adds another dimension to presenting fine art. It favors the tangibility of the artwork in light of relativity. A huge problem with displaying art on the web is the fact that all paintings, no matter what the actual size of the piece, looks like the size of a thumbnail image. With a person, such as the artist, interacting with the piece one immediately gets a feel for its true size, feel and weight.

Follow this link for more information on this anxiety art.

Email from up and coming artist in Birmingham

comments: Hi Dennis I am an A-Level art student in Birmingham, and for my A2 year, I am doing a project on OCD and I came across your work.

The pieces you have created really inspired me and I was just wondering if I could ask you some questions? How long have you been interested in art? What inspired you to do your work on OCD? What artists inspired you with your work? Thank you for your time, It would be a great help to hear back from you! Thanks.

---

1. How long have you been interested in art? Since the late 70s... so I reckon my entire life. I find it hard to comprehend that there is anyone in existence that isn't interested in art. Art is divine!


2. What inspired you to do your work on OCD? Evolution. Phobias are my earliest artworks, but then phobias seamlessly evolved into the OCD concepts. As a conceptual artist I find psychological disorders profoundly interesting.


3. What artists inspired you with your work? Experience and knowledge inspire my work more than anything else. But my favorite artists are Goya, Picasso and Warhol.

Good luck with your art project!

Conceptual art — Breathe — anxiety concept final

Conceptual artist

From an earlier post on this conceptual painting the final 20% is now complete. It will be one of the 5 in an upcoming showing from California.




I recently added ink touches to the art (such as yoga text that talks about symptomatic style, intensive, relaxation breathing). Yes, the road to a stress free day can start with yoga and/or Pilate exercises.

Conceptual art — Breathe

Artist is inspired: and so am I

One of the most fantastic parts of being an artist today is that we show our work on a global stage.

Technology can be a powerful tool. I get emails from all over the world, and some of them make me smile and continue to supplementally fill my artistic fuel tank as I truck on forward.

This email is one of them:
"Hi, I am a student in the UK, studying Fine Art. I wanted to thank you for providing me with such inspiration. Having been set a project titled "Rituals", OCD seemed a natural topic for me to build my work around as sufferer of OCD myself. This is how I came across your work whilst conducting my research. I think your work holds great impact, especially for those like myself who can relate to the concept. My favorite is '3 faucets', I think this is because for me black and white have always presented clarification, clear boundaries and a certain level or organization, and the red for me is a strong representation of frustration. I have consequently started a series of work myself in these colors around the concept of OCD, and would like to thank you again for providing such inspiration and for grasping the frustrations surrounding OCD and turning them into such masterpieces."

Anxiety art — "1999"

Part 3 in my anxiety art series of paintings titled Irrational Exuberance 1999

Click here to see more picks of 1999 -- close ups on Facebook.

All three paintings shown together — 8ft x 4ft:

Artist Giclée Prints — Fine Art Paintings — 1st Time on Video!

As a fine artist that paints mostly about concepts of psychological disorders I don't usually run out and make prints of my paintings. I'm far from a commercial artist.

But I had an exciting opportunity to show my work — in a big way — in California. So the most timely and efficient way to get my paintings out to Laguna Beach was to scan the original art here in Pennsylvania, and then FTP digital versions (of the artwork) to CA to be printed.

This video shows the actual unraveling of two of the pieces after delivery, and the first time I ever saw these prints of my paintings!

FYI, the originals were scanned, via 4x5 scanner back camera, by a fantastic fellow named J. Arthur Davis @ Art Reproduction Services and then they were wonderfully printed and hand stretched by Giclée printer Studio Light Room.

Anxiety art painting by Dennis Ryan — "Exuberance"

This painting stands at 48 inches high by 32 inches wide. Its title is Exuberance.

This is the 2nd painting in a 3 part series. The third painting should be wrapped up by mid-December. I will post pictures of all three together at that point.

Close up 1 - click on the image to see a bigger version.

Close up 2 - click on the image to see a bigger version.

Click for more information on this conceptual painting about anxiety.

Social Media / Social Networking -- my consultant formula

I have been getting more and more requests to do consults to businesses on setting up social media plans.

I'm not advertising, but it seems many businesses are in dire need of this type of knowledge currently and word of mouth spreads quickly. 2010, if you ask me, will be the year of the Facebook business Fan Page! And Twitter, too, looks to have a promising year yet again.

Here is my formula for focal consideration points for the initial setup across the main 3 social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube):

• Brand consistency - all three leaders have different specs for the way your companies' brand is represented (i.e. thumbnails, background images, profile images, etc.). This is important so your business looks legitimate across all vested venues.
• Tracking - recommend tools to track the effectiveness of your efforts. For if no ROI tracking, then why do it to begin with?
• Privacy and account setting configuration - this is a big point! Initially if these aren't set right you and your company are asking for problems and potentially huge headaches.
• Usability - initial training on how best to utilize all three while doing as little work as possible.

Then, just before launch of these branded social media outlets, I sit down with administrators (I can set up multiple admins on most of these accounts) to demonstrate my recommended strategies and give a couple successful examples.

There's a little yellow man in my head — Destroyer

The second song in my quest to blog about all the songs about psychological disorders — and there are MANY! This one by the Kinks called Destroyer is a classic.

The Kinks - Destroyer Lyrics
Songwriter: Davies, Ray

Met a girl called Lola and I took her back to my place
feelin' guilty, feelin' scared, hidden cameras everywhere
stop! hold on. stay in control

Girl, I want, you here with me
but I'm really not as cool as I'd like to be
cause there's a red, under my bed
and there's a little yellow man in my head
and there's a true, blue, inside of me
that keeps stoppin' me, touchin' ya, watchin' ya, lovin' ya

Paranoia, need destroyer. Paranoia, they destroy ya'

Well I fell asleep, then I woke feelin' kinda' queer
Lola looked at me and said ooh you look so weird
she said man, there's really something wrong with you
one day you're gonna' self-destruct
you're up, get down, I'll come work you out
you get a good thing goin' then you blow yourself out

Silly boy ya' self-destroyer. Silly boy ya' self-destroyer

Silly boy you got so much to live for
so much to aim for, so much to try for
you blow it all with, paranoia
you're so insecure you, self-destroyer

(and it goes like this, here it goes) paranoia, they destroy ya
(here it goes again) paranoia, they destroy ya

Dr. Dr. help her please I know you'll understand
there's a time device inside of me I'm a self-destructin' man
there's a red, under my bed
and there's a little green man in my head
and said you're not goin' crazy, you're just a bit sad
'cause there's a man in ya, knawin' ya, tearin' ya, into two

Silly boy ya' self-destroyer. paranoia, they destroy ya'

Self-destroyer, wreck your health
destroy friends, destroy yourself
the time device of, self-destruction
lies, confusion, start eruption

(yea, it goes like this, here it goes) paranoia, they destroy ya
(here's to paranoia) paranoia, they destroy ya
(hey hey, here it goes) paranoia, they destroy ya
(and it goes like this)

paranoia, they destroy ya
(and it goes like this)

Anxiety art painting by Dennis Ryan — "Irrational"

This painting stands at 48 inches high by 32 inches wide. Its title is Irrational.

This painting is actually part one of a three part series. The three pieces are being created with the potential to be hung together or individually. When shown together the painting will be almost 9 feet wide!

Follow this link for more information on this painting and the anxiety art series.