RICKY LEE GORDON
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Born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1984, Ricky Lee Gordon is an artist and curator with a
studio practice that sees him create natural landscapes on canvas using pigments and dyes
found only in nature, a deeply personal process he likens to meditation for the manner in
which it illuminates the interconnectedness of all life.
Working under the aegis of painting nature with nature, he explores a variety of mediums,
seeking harmony through the alchemy of materials and form in processes that include
oxidizing plant dyes, batik printing with beeswax, cyanotypes, lithographs, copper and acid
engraving, wood carving and brass casting.
In his public practice, Lee Gordon is known as one of “street art’s 11 greats” (National
Geographic) for his large-scale artworks bringing to light social and environmental issues with
commissions for organisations such as Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and the United
Nations, for which he recently created his largest work to date, in Downtown Houston, Texas,
a 40 x 30 meter mural drawing attention to the state of the oceans.
Having moved to Cape Town in his twenties and founded A WORD OF ART Gallery, the
Colour Ikamva school rejuvenation project and the Andpeople advertising agency, Lee
Gordon went on to live in Los Angeles in 2015 where he studied anatomy, classical drawing
and painting at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art. With the ocean remaining an
ever-present source of inspiration, Lee Gordon is now based between the Śūnyatā artist
residencies he founded in Sri Lanka and Bali, Indonesia.
Nacido en Johannesburgo, Sudáfrica en 1984, Ricky Lee Gordon es un artista y curador con una
práctica de estudio en la que crea paisajes naturales sobre lienzo usando pigmentos y tintes
que encuentra en la naturaleza, un proceso muy personal que compara con la meditación y su interconexión con la vida.
Trabajando bajo la premisa de pintar naturaleza con naturaleza, Ricky Lee Gordon explora una variedad de medios, buscando la armonía a través de la alquimia de materiales y formas en procesos que incluyen tintes vegetales oxidantes, impresión batik con cera de abeja, cianotipias, litografías, cobre y ácido grabado, tallado en madera y fundición en latón.
En su práctica pública, Lee Gordon es conocido como uno de los “11 grandes del arte callejero” (National Geographic) por sus obras de arte a gran escala que sacan a la luz problemas sociales y ambientales con comisiones para organizaciones como Amnistía Internacional, Greenpeace y las Naciones Unidas, para la que recientemente creó su obra más grande hasta la fecha, en el centro de Houston, Texas, un mural de 40 x 30 metros que llama la atención sobre el estado de los océanos.
Habiéndose mudado a Cape Town, Sudáfrica cuando tenía veinte años y fundado la Galería A Word of Art, el proyecto de rejuvenecimiento de la escuela Color Ikamva y la agencia de publicidad Andpeople, Lee Gordon se fue a vivir a Los Ángeles en 2015, donde estudió anatomía, dibujo clásico y pintura en la Academia de Arte Figurativo de Los Ángeles. Con el océano siendo una fuente de inspiración siempre presente, Lee Gordon se encuentra ahora entre el artista Śūnyatā residencias que fundó en Sri Lanka y Bali, Indonesia.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2023
Ways of Seeing. Ways of Being, MAIA Contemporary, Mexico City
TIDES, Times Beach Warung, Bali
2022
The Ocean our Teacher of a Romantic Realism, The Slow, Bali
2015
The Abstract and Absolute, Dangerfork Gallery, Melbourne
The Nature of Our Presence, Worldart Gallery, Cape Town
2012
Ways of Seeing, A WORD OF ART Gallery, Cape Town
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Portals, group exhibition of past Śūnyatā artists-in-residence, MAIA Contemporary, Mexico City
The Ocean Our Teacher of a Romantic Realism, The Slow, Bali
2017
Noa Noa, Martina’s Gallery, Milan
LADTW, Inner State Gallery, Detroit
2016
Entry Point: Exploring the New Contemporary Movement, Fullerton Museum Center, California,
One Year Anniversary, Athen B Gallery, Oakland
2013
Urban Art, DO ART Foundation, Los Angeles
COMMISSIONS
2023
The Ocean Our Teacher Our Healer, United Nations, Houston
2018
Horizon, Dubai Municipality, UAE
Waiting for Love in the Middle of the Sea/La Metamorphosis, Antonio Oriente, Sapri, Italy
Sunrise. Sunset. We all share the same sun, Fund Sobranie Moscow, Satka, Russia
2017
Beautiful Orchestra, Live painting for Venice Family Clinic fundraiser, Google, Los Angeles
2016
Migration, Bonobo album artwork
Edward Snowden: Three things cannot be long hidden, the sun, the moon and the truth, Wright for Rights, Amnesty International, New Orleans
WAC Big Walls, Colombia College, Chicago
Anywhere, Everywhere, DO ART Foundation, Los Angeles
2014
A Tribute to Nelson Mandela, Maboneng Precinct and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Johannesburg
Google Doodle Freedom day, Google, Cape Town
2013
Earth Hour, WWF, Cape Town & Johannesburg
Within the Wisdom of the Sands, 350.org Global Power Shift conference, Istanbul
Moving Mountains, The Philadelphia Mural Art Program, Philadelphia
2012
Kings and Castles Floating on Acrylic Mountains, Open Walls Festival, Balti
Untitled, Langa Township Experience, Cape Town
Acrylic Walls, Cape Town & Johannesburg
2011
Untitled, Live Painting, Coachella music festival
RESIDENCIES/ AWARDS
2023
Śūnyatā, Bali
2021
Śūnyatā, Sri Lanka
2018
Underdogs Gallery, Lisbon
2017
Noa Noa, Bali
RVCA Artist Network Program International Team Member (ongoing)
Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art Scholarship
2015
La Zona Residency, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Everfresh Residency, Melbourne
2014 Peace Revolution artist meditation retreat and residency, Bangkok
2011 Happy Studios Residency, Portland
MURALS
2019
A sacred gesture the beautiful dance, St+art Festival, Goa, India
2018
SORGE SULLA VALLE | UNA LUNA CHE INSEGNA UN PASSATO INFINITO | UN FUTURO SENZA FINE, Fra.me.IT Festival, Frezzano, Sicily
Young Poseidon, Paxos Biennale, Greece
Landscapes in Ceremony, SODO Track Festival, Seattle
Monument, VukovART Festival, Vukovar, Croatia
2017
A truth which is beauty. A beauty, which is truth, Amnesty international x NuArt Festival, Stavanger, Norway
Rest in stillness like sky, mountain lake, UPEA Festival, Helsinki, Finland
Throw a drop of water into the sea to prevent it from drying up, Crystal Ship Festival, Oostende, Belgium
Lyg jeros sro ves sus ieljame/ The river will lead you to the sea, EDIT Festival, Klaipeda, Lithuania
Die Sonne wird im Ozean versinken (The sun will sink into the ocean)
Der Mond und das Wasser werden steigen (The moon and tides will rise)
Diese Könige in ihren Schlössern werden weggewaschen. (These kings and their castles will wash away), Urban Nation, Berlin
2016
EVERY RIVER FLOWS TO THE SEA / КОЖНА РІКА ВПАДАЄ В МОРЕ
THE WAVES OF THE SEA WILL SOFTEN THE STONE / І ХВИЛІ МОРЯ ТОЧАТЬ КАМІНЬ, United Artists, Kiev
The Memory of Water, Memorie Urbane Festival, Gaeta, Italy
Gentle Hearts, #NotACrime Street Art Campaign for Education Equality, Harlem, New York
OCEAN POET, Pow Wow Hawaii Festival, Honolulu
2015
The Road to Solidarity/ Rua de Soladrite, Walk & Talk Festival, Azores, Portugal
Untitled, Matharan Green Festival, Mumbai
2014
A faded memory of an island, Festival D’art Urbain, Antananarivo, Madagascar
2013
Untitled school rejuvenation mural, Muralist Festival, Kathmandu
Untitled, Wall Therapy, Rochester, New York
I AM BECAUSE WE ARE, Living Walls Festival, Atlanta
Kurema, Kureba, Kwiga collaborative mural with local artists, Kigali, Rwanda