Ian Decker
Bio: Born in Detroit, Ian currently lives in NYC. He received his BFA from Wayne State University and is currently completing his MFA at Columbia University.
Iandeckerart.com
Instagram: @iandecker
Thesis Exhibition
Artist Statement: I paint and collage landscapes that hold space for unpacking and unearthing the mundane and magical absurdities of the present. They are American landscapes and the land is bloated, torn, hand-me-down, funny/not funny, fragile, sentimental, and alive. These paintings search for the sublime in the paper cup, in the small thingness of the world. Cycles of decay and regeneration imbue the painting with a memory, a history, a surface, and an alchemy of accident. This creates an aura of the land’s persona and the communities that inhabit it.
By collaging found objects, family photos, trash, and art history, the layers of the painting become the proscenium of money, power, and human frailty. The painting is less about making sense of the world but finding significance through the process of searching. Many landscapes only offer escapism, these landscapes seek grace through presence. By placing fragments next to each other, a constellation of intimate moments grows, a web of broken and contradictory stories emerges, and a totality of the world is suggested, if not felt.
Every Bird I Ever Saw (92” x 146” x 1.5," Oil, collage on canvas, 2021)
First Year Exhibition
Floating World (72 x 96 in, oil and collage on canvas, 2021)
Open Studios
