Artists' Film Club: Ryan Trecartin

'The most consequential artist to have emerged since the 1980s'. Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker

L.A.-based artist Ryan Trecartin’s videos – known for their dense, surreal narratives and high-octane pacing – explore language and the fluid nature of identity while spotlighting the contradictions and nuances of American culture.

Originally releasing his videos on YouTube in the mid-2000s, his work is informed by a range of influences, from popular television and movies to social media and online communities and their effect on human interaction. Working closely with a group of collaborators for over a decade – chief among them his primary creative partner Lizzie Fitch – Trecartin’s movies engage the viewer on multiple levels and in multi-faceted forms. 

Programme

Kitchen Girl (2001), SD video, colour, sound, 2 min 57 sec
Yo! A Romantic Comedy (2002), SD video, colour, sound, 11 min 54 sec
(Tommy Chat Just E-mailed Me.) (2006), SD video, colour, sound, 7 min 15 sec
The Re'Search (Re'Search Wait'S) (2009-2010), HD video, colour, sound, 40 min 6 sec

Ryan Trecartin (born 1981 in Webster, Texas) lives and works in Los Angeles. Recent solo and collaborative exhibitions include: Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2014); Lizzie Fitch / Ryan Trecartin with Rhett Larue, Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam (2012); "Ryan Trecartin: Any Ever," MoMA PS1, New York (2011); and "Ryan Trecartin / Lizzie Fitch: Any Ever," Musée d’art moderne, Paris (2011). Recent group exhibitions include: "The Los Angeles Project," Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2014); “Infinite Jest”, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (2014); “Dark Velocity”, Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and “Room to Live: Recent Acquisitions and Works from the Collection”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2013). Fitch and Trecartin’s forthcoming exhibition at the Zabludowicz Collection, London, runs from October 2nd to December 21st 2014.

This screening is presented in association with Zabludowicz Collection, London, who host the first UK solo show by Lizzie Fitch/ Ryan Trecartin, 2 October to 21 December 2014. The exhibition is an ambitious and completely new reconfiguration of Priority Innfield, a multi-screen installation, which continues Fitch and Trecartin’s remarkable exploration of the impact of technology on communication, language and the construction of identity.