exhibition text
Moskowitz Bayse is pleased to present The Undergrowth, a solo exhibition of new ceramic works by Los Angeles-based artist Ryan Flores. This exhibition is the artist’s second with the gallery and will be on view April 11 - May 31, 2025.
Ryan Flores' ceramic sculptures lure with the initial promise of bounty and sustenance, before slowly revealing rot and decay in equal measure. Through his masterful approach to complex glazes, Flores mimics the effects of chiaroscuro, translucency, and surface texture seen in historical still-life paintings, creating sculptures that are both lush and unsettling. His glazes crackle and ooze, evoking the processes of spoilage, while the interplay of matte and glossy finishes, along with the organic unpredictability of fired surfaces, adds a painterly illusionism to the work. In this way, Flores bridges the aesthetic principles of painting with the tactile immediacy of sculpture, reinforcing the visual and conceptual dialogue between two-dimensional representation and three-dimensional form.
Works in The Undergrowth eschew the comforting niceties of nature’s beauty in favor of a more primal, unvarnished encounter with the earth. These pieces take inspiration from artistic traditions that explore the shadowed spaces of the natural world—tangled thickets, damp forest floors, and the teeming life that thrives in overlooked undergrowth. Rather than serene arrangements of cultivated flowers and fruit, these sculptures summon the raw, untamed sprawl of nature at its most fertile and foreboding. Through this interplay of life and death, Flores invites viewers to contemplate entropy as both an aesthetic and philosophical concern.
A Still Life with Devil's Trumpet conjures an overgrown, otherworldly shrine where nature and decay intertwine in a delicate balance. Rising from a textured, earthen base, the structure is crowned by an arched window, its edges tangled with thorny vines and dark, wilting leaves. A finely crafted spiderweb stretches across the opening, a fragile yet persistent marker of time’s passage. Below, an unruly tangle of flora bursts forth—cacti twist and coil, their spiny surfaces juxtaposed against the smooth, glistening petals of bell-shaped flowers in shades of yellow, blue, and pink. Some blossoms appear in full bloom, while others wilt and curl inward, caught in various stages of life and decline. Deep red, hollowed-out forms at the base evoke cavernous decay, reinforcing the interplay of abundance and entropy. A symmetrical, sculpted flower perches on the top of the work like a crest, evoking both the decorative motifs of classical architecture and the resilience of organic forms reclaiming their space. The piece pulses with life’s inevitable cycles—beginning, end, and the haunting beauty in between.
At the core of The Undergrowth is a negotiation between historical reference and personal narrative. Flores' imagery is drawn not only from the canon of European still life painting but also from direct observation, incorporating flora collected from walks and hikes in and around the Los Angeles region. His imagery–embedded with familial and cultural significance—transforms his compositions into vessels of memory. In this way, the works function as both speculative landscapes and mnemonic structures, housing a detailed and layered explosion of time, place, and transformation.
In Money Tree, an intricate, twisting tree rises from a richly textured base, its branches adorned with familiar elongated, paddle-like leaves that reach outward, each tipped with delicate, bead-like accents. The structure appears both lush and unruly, an amalgamation of teetering organic forms. Clusters of vines, swollen tomatoes, and shriveled husks spill over the edges, their glossy, tactile surfaces mimicking the damp vitality of a forest floor. A cavernous hollow at the sculpture’s base suggests a hidden world beneath the surface.
By seducing the viewer with vibrant color and material sumptuousness while simultaneously confronting themes of decomposition and impermanence, The Undergrowth destabilizes the binary of beauty and decay. In doing so, it also captures an array of other dualities; recollections of urban cities where lush gardens thrive in arid landscapes, where new rises from remnants of the old, and where nature and human intervention remain in constant tension. Flores’ work considers layered histories and ecologies as a reflection of his lived experience, citing the magic of perpetual transformation and resilience of life.