FOR IMMEDIATE USE
March 2022

Bockhaus’s New Solo Exhibition, I’m Not Funded by the CIA, Examines Propaganda & Cultural Influence at Ki Smith Gallery in NYC

Photo courtesy Roman Dean

New York, NY – Bockhaus returns to Ki Smith Gallery with a new, evocative solo exhibition, I’m Not Funded by the CIA, examining whether the art world is a “system collapsing in on itself” and the role of artists against the backdrop of global crisis. 

The result of a two-year production period, I’m Not Funded by the CIA asks viewers to consider the value of art beyond capital and the role of art as a propaganda tool in an immersive exhibition the artist calls “a creative call to arms.” The title, alluding to the pivotal role the Central Intelligence Agency played in establishing Abstract Expressionism during the Cold War, examines the history of art being used as a weapon of cultural distraction by governments. 

The propaganda machine is time-tested and well-oiled. To combat it, we must mount defenses against it where it stands and meet it head to head. We must beat it at its own game. Artistic resistance, via routes like counterculture and protest, is the power governments fear, covet, and ultimately seek to control. Independent artists have an obligation to constantly reclaim their language and original intent of creation. To face the machine with moral strength, to uphold freedom and truth against a shadowy culture war.
– Bockhaus

The fragmented figures and historical moments that previously populated Bockhaus’s work are gone, focusing instead on the absurd, physical act of painting, Dadaist theory, and the meshing of critical theory between the art movement’s great number of artistic mediums. Known for his immersive, site-specific exhibitions, I’m Not Funded by the CIA will also include an oversized chess set made from vintage piano legs, likewise inspired by Dadaists’ obsessions with games and readymade sculptures. 

The exhibition will be held at the gallery’s two locations from May 13, 2022 – June 24, 2002. There will be a preview opening reception at the gallery’s 4th Street location on May 13, 2022, followed by a larger opening reception at the gallery’s 3rd Street location. There will also be two VIP tea parties on June 4 & 18, 2022. 

Exhibition Details

Dates: May 13, 2022 – June 24, 2022

Ki Smith Gallery
197 E 4th Street New York, NY 10009
311 E 3rd Street New York, NY 10009

Opening Receptions / Events Details

Opening Reception 
May 13, 2022
197 E 4th Street New York, NY 10009 

Opening Reception
May 27, 2022
311 E 3rd Street New York, NY 10009 

June 4 & 18, 2022
VIP Tea Party

About Bockhaus

Ryan Bock, aka Bockhaus, is an interdisciplinary visual artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY.

Bockhaus specializes in painting, drawing, puppetry, animation and experimental film methods. His practice is rooted in a need for narrative structure. Residing somewhere between mythology and nightmare, Bockhaus depicts mise-en-scène riddled with symbology and allusions both cinematic and painterly. Maintaining a fascination for shape, shade, shadow, structure and optical illusion, Bockhaus deconstructs his subject matter into often barely-recognizable delineations and structurally unsound repetitive patterns. In an attempt to confront the contemporary individual’s relationship to mortality, fear and superstition, Bockhaus depicts correlations between the human figure and its innovations: technology, architecture and religion—both historically and fictitiously. By consistently contrasting historical subjects with those of the present, and using the recurring patterns found to generate predictions about our future—a process he refers to as ‘dusty futurism’—Bockhaus propels his audience to reconsider the routine human experience and discloses the illusions implemented to keep them from questioning. Commissions and/or collaborations welcome.

Since receiving his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Bock has shown at numerous galleries both nationally––New York, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, and Oakland––and internationally in Paris, London, and Prague, including seven solo exhibitions. His work has also been featured in group exhibitions at Christie’s New York and the Honolulu Museum of Art. During his time with Apostrophe NYC’s Base 12 Project, he participated in unsolicited exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA PS1, the MTA’s Kosciuszko Street J train station, and solicited exhibitions at Coney Island’s Luna Park and Mana Contemporary. In 2019, Bock’s installation at SPRING/BREAK Art Show, and subsequent solo exhibition ​Somnambulist​ were featured by Hi-Fructose​ Magazine, ​ARTnews​, ​Observer​, and ​artnet News.​ He currently shows with Ki Smith Gallery, and has works in several prominent private and public collections.

Website: https://bock.haus/
Instagram: @bockhaus

About Ki Smith Gallery

Ki Smith Gallery disrupts standard industry practice by representing a carefully-selected group of artists with diverse  backgrounds, methods, and aesthetics. Our artists are encouraged to explore materials and processes and we actively support them in making exciting new works. We immerse ourselves in each exhibition from conception to execution.

The gallery works closely with our collectors to help them create meaningful collections. We take pride in helping them not only understand the intentions of the artist, but also consider their own personal and emotional connections to the work. 

Although we take the larger trends and conversations of other galleries and auction houses into consideration, we consider our peers to be the artists, patrons, and friends that are active parts of our community. We are compelled by a deep love and respect for art and are always searching for imaginative ways of sharing it with others.

Website: www.kismithgallery.com
Instagram: @kismithgallery