Mark Ryden
Encyclopedia
Early life
Ryden is the son of Barbara and Keith Ryden, born in Medford, OregonMedford, Oregon
Medford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the city had a total population of 74,907 and a metropolitan area population of 207,010, making the Medford MSA the 4th largest metro area in Oregon...
but raised in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. He has two sisters and two brothers, one a fellow artist named Keyth Ryden.
Ryden studied illustration and graduated from the Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, in 1987. His solo debut show entitled "The Meat Show" was in Pasadena, California in 1998. He currently lives and works in Eagle Rock, California, in a studio that he shares with his wife, artist Marion Peck
Marion Peck
Marion Peck is a United States painter born on October 3, 1963 in Manila, the Philippines, while her family was on a trip around the world. She grew up in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of four children.-History:...
. He has two children, Rosie and Jasper.
Work
Ryden's first showing of his work was at the "Side Show" exhibition in 1994 held at the Tamara Bone Gallery, Los Angeles, California. His first solo show, "The Meat Show", Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California featured works such as The Birth of Venus, and The Pumpkin President. http://www.markryden.com/paintings/index.htmlRyden's The Tree Show exhibit in March 2007 at the Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles featured oil paintings and sculptures. The largest of the paintings, "The Tree of Life," which featured an intricately hand-carved forest frame, sold for $800,000 before the exhibit opened.
On February 7, 2009 Ryden's exhibition "The Snow Yak Show" was shown at the Tomio Koyama Gallery in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
Kirk Hammett
Kirk Hammett
Kirk Lee Hammett is the lead guitarist and a songwriter in the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stones list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
of the heavy metal band Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
recently commissioned Mark Ryden to paint one of his guitars. Hammett is pictured holding the guitar on the cover of "Guitar World's April 2009 issue.
Ryden's work has been featured in lowbrow
Lowbrow (art movement)
Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, describes an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California, area in the late 1970s. Lowbrow is a widespread populist art movement with origins in the underground comix world, punk music, hot-rod street culture, and other subcultures. It is also...
art publications such as Juxtapoz, Hi Fructose, and BLAB!.
Ryden has designed album covers for musicians including Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
, Scarling, and Jack Off Jill
Jack Off Jill
Jack Off Jill was an American alternative rock band from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, founded in 1992 by Jessica Fodera, Tenni Arslanyan, Robin Moulder, and Michelle Oliver. Though these four young women were the initial founders, twelve members rotated through the group in its lifespan, including...
, and collaborated with composers Stan Ridgway
Stan Ridgway
Stanard 'Stan' Ridgway is an American multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums and was the original lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo...
(Wall of Voodoo
Wall of Voodoo
Wall of Voodoo was an American New Wave group from Los Angeles best known for the 1983 hit "Mexican Radio". The band had a sound that was a fusion of synthesizer-based New Wave music with the spaghetti western soundtrack style of Ennio Morricone.-Formation:...
) and Pietra Wexstun
Pietra Wexstun
Pietra Wexstun is an electronic musician and singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She has fronted for the band Hecate's Angels since 1996, and has performed with her husband Stan Ridgway since 1986. She has contributed to all of Ridgway's solo and Drywall albums, performing backing...
for Music for his 2003 "Blood" show.
Ryden's professional art debut was his illustration for the album cover The Best of Oingo Boingo: Skeletons in the Closet by the band Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
.
Ryden is also a subject of "The Art Army" hand-made action figures by Michael Leavitt
Michael Leavitt (artist)
Mike Leavitt is a visual artist based in Seattle, WA U.S.A., described as "the best caricature sculptor in the city" . The "über-allround-cool-creator" is most widely known for his "Art Army" series of hand-made action figures depicting visual artists, musicians, and entertainers...
.
Personal life
On October 24, 2009 Ryden married longtime partner Marion PeckMarion Peck
Marion Peck is a United States painter born on October 3, 1963 in Manila, the Philippines, while her family was on a trip around the world. She grew up in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of four children.-History:...
in the woods of the Pacific Northwest Rainforest.
Publications
- The Art of Mark Ryden: Anima Mundi (2001)
- Bunnies and Bees (2002)
- Wondertoonel Paintings (2004)
- Blood Show (2005)
- Fushigi Circus (2006)
- The Tree Show (2007)
- The Snow Yak Show (2009)
Book covers
- Ryden's artwork is on the dustjacket of Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel Desperation and The RegulatorsThe RegulatorsThe Regulators is a novel by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. It was published in 1996 at the same time as its "mirror" novel, Desperation. The two novels represent parallel universes relative to one another, and most of the characters present in one novel's world also exist in the...
. - Ryden released a book with artist Marion Peck called Sweet Wishes.