RYAN LEE is pleased to present Drums and Roses, a site-specific installation and series of performances by Ted Riederer. In each 10-minute performance, Riederer invites a musician to improvise on the drum set using 10 dozen roses instead of wooden mallets. The roses burst apart with each strike on the tom-toms and cymbals. Bright petals ricochet off the walls, carpeting player and instrument alike. Riederer replaces the naked stems with fresh roses until there are no flowers left to give the partipcating dummer. When the performance concludes and the drummer exits the space, the roses remain as sculptural evidence.
The act of percussion becomes purely visual in Drums and Roses, as viewers cannot hear the drums from the High Line. By interrupting the connection between sight and sound, Riederer reimagines the possibilities of music beyond the aural. Drums and Roses has been previously performed in London, Liverpool, INOVA in Wisconsin for Michelle Grabner’s 2012 survey, Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York, NY), Jonathan Ferrara Gallery (New Orleans, LA), the Hermitage (Sarasota, FL), Project One Gallery (San Francisco, CA), and Bob Rauschenberg Gallery (Ft. Myers, FL). A selection of works from Riederer's multidisciplinary practice will accompany the performances, on view in the RL Project exhibition space.
Ted Riederer (b. 1970, New York, NY) has armed himself with painting supplies, electric guitars, amplifiers, record players, drum kits, photography equipment, and long-stemmed roses while ambling from the Americas to the Antipodes. His work has been shown internationally, including exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Prospect 1.5, Goff and Rosenthal Berlin, Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, Jack Hanley Gallery, Context Gallery, David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, the Liverpool Biennial, and the Dhaka Arts Center in Bangladesh. The Tate Modern sponsored his Never Records project, which has traveled from New York to London, New Orleans, and more. This summer, Never Records will travel to Amman, Jordan, sponsored by Royal Jordanian Airlines. Riederer is also the Founding Artistic Director of Howl! Happening: An Arturo Vega Project, a non-profit gallery/ performance space in New York.
