HungryEyeball presents Joe Ryckebosch at Meat Cheese Bread

September 10, 2012

Interview & Art Show with Joe Ryckebosch

Hungry Eyeball has been invited to curate monthly art shows at Meat Cheese Bread.
Our first show is skater, tape artist… Joe Ryckebosch.

“Pattern Recognition”

with Joe Ryckebosch
@ Meat Cheese Bread
1406 SE Stark St.
Portland, OR 97214
Sept 7 – Oct 2, 2012
Monday thru Saturday 7am-7pm
Show online in the Hungry Eyeball Gallery

We sent Joe some questions and here is what he had to say…

>>> Joe Ryckebosch… where does your last name come from and where did you come from?

My last name is of Belgium origin. If you go to Belgium and look up Ryckebosch in the phone book you might see a bunch of ‘em. It is a pretty common last name there, I think. I’ve never been to Belgium personally, however, I like the beers! I myself come from the wastelands of Southern California, the high desert to be exact. A town called Lancaster. But I left in 1994 never to return.
>>> Where do you want to go?

I’d like to go upwards and maybe sideways a bit. I really don’t know. With my art I’d like to take it to a wider audience. I’m interested in trying some new things, getting more into true collage type work. I’m also interested in working with paints at some point. Perhaps eschewing the tape for a while just to see what I can come up with. Portland has been so great and responsive to my art. I’m curious what the reactions would be in larger cities. I’ve shown work in NYC and LA, but nothing too major has happened there, or really “taken off”. I was part of an awesome collage show a few years ago at this place called Cinders Gallery in Brooklyn. I was really excited to even be considered for something like that. Definitely a high point for me. There’s a curator out there and really cool collage artist named James Gallagher. Somehow, somewhere he saw what I was doing and invited me to be part of that show, along with a ton of super talented artist from around the world.
>>> Joe, I hear you like to skateboard, do you have some favorite places to go?

Oh man, I love skateboarding and have been doing it for over 20 years!! I was super into it in the early ’90s, enough so that I was an amateur skater for a short-lived indie skateboard company called Channel One. Free decks, T-shirts, wheels and stickers! In Portland I like to skate this spot under the Hawthorne bridge, right next to the Eastbank Esplanade, where the Vera Katz statue resides. There is no skatepark there, just nice smooth ground with great manual pads and ledges. I go there often to just clear my head and roll around. Old man rolling, I like to call myself.

>>> Besides skateboarding and art, what else do you like to do?

I play drums in a band called DADZ. I have a daughter, Frances, and she keeps me super busy. Fathering, art, skateboarding and drumming = pretty good thus far. The occasional tasty imperial IPA makes me pretty happy too. I love beer, love it! Portland does have it beers, that’s for sure.
>>> What are some of your favorite local, domestic and international beers… where can we find you having a cold one?

My favorite spot in Portland for beer is probably Green Dragon. They have an awesome weekly rotating tap list with great beer from local and out of state locales. They also have one of the best outdoor beer gardens in the city, in my opinion.

Favorite local beers: Amnesia Brewing. Hands down the best beer being brewed within city limits.
Micro Domestic: Green Flash Brewing Imperial IPA, Russian River Brewing Pliny the Elder, Anderson Valley Brewing Leafer Madness IPA, Par Lay Brewing Lay-Low IPA, Hair of the Dog Blue Dot IPA (local too!)
International: Well, I really don’t have an international favorite. I generally just stick to American micro brews. I guess I would say perhaps any Chimay ale (Belgian). Super good, and too pricey for my blood! Special occasions only.
>>> Your artwork brings up ideas of energy fields, vibes, and auras. What are your thoughts on these?

A lot of folks bring up the idea of auras, or energy beams, especially in regards to the wildlife pieces. I like to think of them as events occurring in nature that we don’t normally see, but are always there. Like we are viewing the pieces through some sort of strange filter; we are able to see the hidden phenomena within a captured moment.

>>> How did your art process come about?

I first started using tape as a means to create solely abstract geometric patterns on found pieces of wood, which I’d paint a solid color and then apply the tape in very strict patterns – lots of right angles. The pieces turned out sort of like Mondrian inspired work gone crazy. Very few of these original works exist now. I did not start combining found nature imagery with tape until I moved to Portland, that all started here. I always loved going to thrift stores and yard sales and looking for old nature magazines and images. I liked them just the way they were. But, one day I was looking at one of these vintage images and thought, “I wonder what some of my tape would look like on this?” So I put a bit on the image, and basically had this sudden inspiration to begin combining the two. Obviously, I haven’t stopped doing it, and am always trying to experiment with new techniques.
>>> Do you have any art events or shows you’d like to share with us?

Well, I’ll probably, hopefully be part of the Crafty Wonderland show this December 2012. I don’t have any other shows planned after the Meat Bread & Cheese show. I’ll probably hunker down for a few months and start work on several new pieces. I have some ideas brewing. My website is pretty up to date with new works, so if yer interested just check out joeryckebosch.com
See more work… Pattern Recognition with Joe Ryckebosch in the Hungry Eyeball online gallery