Shades of Grandeur: Present Tensions

Ryan Spencer Reed’s first introduction to me was during an exhibition he presented at Calvin College. And while his placement in their gallery was fitting, it was the emotional distance one develops after seeing such powerful images that lingered with me long after the work came down.
 
A few years later, his work would emerge in Grand Rapids’ ArtPrize and attempt to pull focus to a topic already on the lips of many — the threats close by as evidenced by his subject matter, Detroit. But for all its urgency, the work only connected with a few individuals who grasped that hidden beneath the surface was a yearning to begin dialog around the topic of the threat within.
 
Now he returns to Grand Rapids with a collection of 33 images, 21 of which have never been on display, that tell the tale of our country’s patriotism, but echo a haunting refrain about the impact of memory on this topic as Reed looks at the remains of our past — of what we cling to, and to that which we let go.
 
“The reverberating wonderment I felt was the honor in working with one’s hands, which was so clearly evident in the architecture of this great American city contrasted with the evidence laid forth in that so much remains in ruin today,” says Reed. “The dismissal of this sacred value represented by the present condition of a community like Detroit is a powerful indictment to the greed which has seeped into the fiber of more recent generations, and which has certainly influenced our present course.”
 
And this is where the power of Reed’s vision works the magic that good art often possesses. Long after this collection of images has retired from the walls of the Richard App Gallery, they will no doubt remain within us as we unearth their meaning through the silent reflection present in his work. “Shades of Grandeur” is a timeless collection of images that, along with Reed’s other work, documents a recent history that is still in flux and up for grabs. 
 
It is rare to enter a story where the ending has not been written. Venture to East Hills to see this show.