(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)August 28, 2014

(MAHWAH, NJ) – Constant Velocity, featuring artist Ryan Roa in a solo exhibition of site-responsive sculpture, opens on Wednesday, September 17 in the Pascal Gallery on the campus of Ramapo College of New Jersey.  Created entirely of rubber bungee cords, the artist stretches the materials to capacity, balancing the forces of tension and compression to arrive at a point the sculpture is in a state of stasis.  An opening reception will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with an artist’s talk scheduled for 6:30 p.m.  The exhibition is curated by Jeanne Brasile, director of Seton Hall University’s Walsh Gallery and an alumna of Ramapo College (’97).  All events are free and open to the public. The exhibition runs through October 22.

“I am interested in providing the viewer with an experience – that of moving through the gallery, as well as the viewer’s relationship to space and objects within it,” said Roa.  “I install the work to construct passages and obstructions, which requires viewers to respond by negotiating the installation’s overlapping forms and lines.”  This sense of movement is heightened by the vectors created by the arrangement and composition of the Space Drawings.

Drawing with the bungees in three-dimensional space, Roa stretches the utilitarian materials tightly from opposing points within the gallery.  The straight lines of the taut rubber bungees combine to create overlapping forms that are meant to be experienced from various vantage points, producing a series of linear patterns as viewers navigate Roa’s Space Drawings.  The individual forms are sympathetically arranged to complement and challenge existing architectural features.

Ryan Roa was born in Englewood, New Jersey in 1977.  He received a M.F.A. from Hunter College and a B.F.A. from SUNY New Paltz.  He has had solo exhibitions at The Jersey City Museum, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and The Trinity Museum.  His work has been featured in group shows at The Bronx Museum of Art, the Queens Museum, El Museo del Barrio, The Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Rush Arts, The Socrates Sculpture Park, Flux Factory, Emerson Dorsch Gallery and Rooster Gallery.  Roa currently lives and works in New York.

The Pascal Gallery is located in the Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts at Ramapo College.  Hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.  For more information, visit www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/art-galleries/ or call 201-684-7147.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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