Schlomer Haus Gallery is pleased to present "Growing Pains," the debut exhibition from multidisciplinary artist Ryan Robichaux. Exploring dualities of masculinity through “acceptable interactions” – a football tackle, rough housing, or a bro hug – Robichaux weaves his personal experience as a trans man to expose nuanced tenderness and platonic intimacy in the male experience.
Bringing his own memories of what was considered inherently male during his childhood in Texas, Robichaux paints snapshots to find a sense of himself. In exploring the ways his own body has both succeeded and failed in matching traditional expectations of maleness, Robichaux begins a discourse about the universal need to compare oneself to societally-imposed standards, driven by his own perception and experiences through his trans identity.
"Growing Pains" references not only periods of his own development, but also the artist’s feelings of coming of age, and even stunted growth, as he navigates the world. The collection of works touches on a physicality that he held onto in his youth, emphasizing a love of and longing to inhabit the male figure. Exploring color interactions as a form of relationship, Robichaux presents striking pairings, in his words “queering them, putting together the unexpected.” The dreamlike pieces are Robichaux’s foray into a new medium, a new subject, and a new style. He welcomes the clumsiness that comes with change, embracing the inconsistencies to present a new breadth of beauty.
