Imagine standing in a room full of your dreams, thoughts and hallucinations all at once — this room would describe Ryan McGinness‘ latest exhibition titled, Works, at Deitch Projects, over April 2009. At first glance, the fluorescent colors remind you of your inner “rave”, filled with glow sticks and black lighting. Deitch’s installation caters to the visionary universe of McGinness’ inner “rave” as well, filled with iconography and semiotics, by providing a darkened setting.

McGinness was inspired by Andy Warhol’s silk-screening technique, and used it mainly to layer appropriated icons on his canvases and instillations. He redefined and exhausted this technique, having over hundreds of layers per piece. Drawing from Jackson Pollock’s paint throwing method, McGinness splattered pop culture symbols rather than paint. And his final inspiration came from the ‘color field’ painters and their use of optically immersive monochromatic paintings.

McGinness’ works were intuitive responses20to anything he had seen, imagined or dreamt. The pieces could contain icons from history to contemporary culture, from the Virgin Mary to a two headed monster. Craft, design, ornamentation, pop or street art? There is no specific style to categorize this exhibition. Rather than the problem of logos or branding, this show may be seen to represent the panorama of McGinness’ life. There is a random element to these works, because McGinness’ idea about process to not pre-plan any of his pieces. The works are clean and precise while no doubt visually appealing to the eye. The color and icons create a different mood; some convey a wild-jungle feeling while others are meant to confuse your mind.

The plan of Deitch projects includes steps below, taking the viewer to an underground black-lit cave full of ‘starry’ paintings, as well as steps above, leading atop the main exhibition space where the natural light from the sun is juxtaposed with the dark ominous cave below. McGinness’ Works cannot be contained— there are an explosive array of rainbow colors and copious amounts of themes. Although the titles were somewhat misleading [e.g. Master of Reality, Only a Thief Thinks Everybody Steals and Faith], for the viewer to understand the concept of the paintings was certainly not McGinness’ intention. Enter the “rave”, enter McGinness’ world, and enter Deitch Projects to see an exhibition that will open your mind to a nostalgic experience.