Rick Sindt Art

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them...

This untitled work by Rick Sindt was inspired by the works of Paul Cadmus. It is a small graphite drawing of two male nude figures with both of their faces somewhat obscured during an intimate moment. The graph lines often used by artist are still visible to distinguish between the photographic elements of a Polaroid photo and this actual drawing. The piece is framed in a white float frame measuring 12.5h x 10.5w inches. Rick Sindt Untitled - After Cadmus graphite on panel 10h x 8w in 25.40h x 20.32w cm Shifting the historic male gaze into a male-on-male gaze, this body of work anchors its exploration of queer culture in relationships and introspection. Beginning with a survey of several photo archives, I overwhelmingly encountered pictures that fit into two distinct categories: spectacular demonstrations or public displays of sexuality. All of these images were overtly political. Then, I began to find a subset of more intimate images. Typically, these were images submitted by loved ones or donated to foundations after someone’s death. These images depicted common, tender scenes. Working my way through these images, I reflected on D. A. Miller’s assertion that gay identity, to which we have entrusted our politics and ethics, stands in an essentially reductive relation to the queer desires on which it is based. And David Halperin’s argument that, “identity has become the preferred category for thinking about homosexuality. Moreover, it has been promoted at the direct expense of pleasure or feelings or subjectivity.” This left me asking the questions: how is queer culture transmitted if not genealogically? Is there a universal queer experience? What is queer sensibility and subjectivity and can it be visually represented? In the body of work submitted here, black and white graphite drawings maintain a Polaroid scale referencing the found historical photographs on which they are based, oil paintings provide isolated moments of feeling as they investigate questions about queer dispositions in a contemporary setting, and a few key sketches provide insight into how a few individual inquiries began. Rick Sindt b. 1990, Hastings, MN, EDUCATION 2013 North Park University, Chicago, IL - BFA Magna Cum Laude SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2016 Two Countries, Rogue Philanthropy, Chicago, IL 2013 Tides, Erosion or Catch, Pull, Recover; The-One-Right-Now, North Park University; Chicago, IL GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 Are We Not of Interest to Each Other, Uptown Arts Center, Chicago, IL Reinventing Ourselves From Another Point-of-View, Contemporary Gallery at Zhou B. Arts Center, Chicago, IL Collective: Process, Beans and Bagels, Chicago, IL 2015 Collective: for(a)ging, Hammond Art Center; Hammond, IN How We Make It, The Arts of Life, Chicago, IL Collective: One, Albany Park...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographi...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographi...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographi...

Rick Sindt's knowledge of the male physique is evident in this drawing of a nude male torso. The subject is tilted back with his head turned away, as if to shield himself from the v...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographi...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them...

"Knit" by Rick Sindt is a small graphite drawing of two male nude figures. The faces are somewhat obscured as we view this intimate moment. The graph lines often used by artist are...

"Daniel #1" is a graphite drawing by Rick Sindt. The two figures, one naked, one fully clothed, are standing in a doorway inviting the viewer in. The graphite is reminiscent of the...

Rick Sindt's knowledge of the male physique is evident in this exquisite drawing of a nude male. The subject sits on the ground with his body twisted away from the viewer. We see the defined musculature of his posterior. The artwork is framed in white wood with a black mat. Rick Sindt The Body is a History graphite on archival paper 12h x 9w in 30.48h x 22.86w cm RIS026 Shifting the historic male gaze into a male-on-male gaze, this body of work anchors its exploration of queer culture in relationships and introspection. Beginning with a survey of several photo archives, I overwhelmingly encountered pictures that fit into two distinct categories: spectacular demonstrations or public displays of sexuality. All of these images were overtly political. Then, I began to find a subset of more intimate images. Typically, these were images submitted by loved ones or donated to foundations after someone’s death. These images depicted common, tender scenes. Working my way through these images, I reflected on D. A. Miller’s assertion that gay identity, to which we have entrusted our politics and ethics, stands in an essentially reductive relation to the queer desires on which it is based. And David Halperin’s argument that, “identity has become the preferred category for thinking about homosexuality. Moreover, it has been promoted at the direct expense of pleasure or feelings or subjectivity.” This left me asking the questions: how is queer culture transmitted if not genealogically? Is there a universal queer experience? What is queer sensibility and subjectivity and can it be visually represented? Rick Sindt b. 1990, Hastings, MN, EDUCATION 2013 North Park University, Chicago, IL - BFA Magna Cum Laude SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2016 Two Countries, Rogue Philanthropy, Chicago, IL 2013 Tides, Erosion or Catch, Pull, Recover; The-One-Right-Now, North Park University; Chicago, IL GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 Are We Not of Interest to Each Other, Uptown Arts Center, Chicago, IL Reinventing Ourselves From Another Point-of-View, Contemporary Gallery at Zhou B. Arts Center, Chicago, IL Collective: Process, Beans and Bagels, Chicago, IL 2015 Collective: for(a)ging, Hammond Art Center; Hammond, IN How We Make It, The Arts of Life, Chicago, IL Collective: One, Albany Park...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographi...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them into images of intimacy. Rick Sindt Did I Steal You Away? oil on panel 18h x 24w x 1.50d in 45.72h x 60.96w x 3.81d cm RIS036 “This body of work has been crystalizing in my mind for about five years,” says Sindt, “It is the product of reflecting on how the places I learned the most about myself, and my desires, are considered something that sullies a person, something taboo.” Focused on the experiences of gay men, this body of oil paintings depicts moments that range from tender touches to more sexually explicit...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographi...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographi...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them into images of intimacy. Rick Sindt A Quiet Line oil on panel 8h x 8w x 0.50d in 20.32h x 20.32w x 1.27d cm RIS034 “This body of work has been crystalizing in my mind for about five years,” says Sindt, “It is the product of reflecting on how the places I learned the most about myself, and my desires, are considered something that sullies a person, something taboo.” Focused on the experiences of gay men, this body of oil paintings depicts moments that range from tender touches to more sexually explicit acts. “It was important to me that I only represent what I know,” explains Sindt, “I identify as a man, and I am attracted to others who identify as men. I don’t believe it is my place to speak on behalf of other members of the queer community whose experiences I am unfamiliar with.” “In creating this work, I spoke with men who told me about how they hid magazines when they were a kid, took out P.O. Boxes in their small hometowns to protect their privacy, and learned how to cover their tracks on the internet. These secretive acts become necessary when the need to understand yourself is great, but your world is bereft of representation." Rick Sindt b. 1990, Hastings, MN, EDUCATION 2013 North Park University, Chicago, IL - BFA Magna Cum Laude SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2016 Two Countries, Rogue Philanthropy, Chicago, IL 2013 Tides, Erosion or Catch, Pull, Recover; The-One-Right-Now, North Park University; Chicago, IL GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 Are We Not of Interest to Each Other, Uptown Arts Center, Chicago, IL Reinventing Ourselves From Another Point-of-View, Contemporary Gallery at Zhou B. Arts Center, Chicago, IL Collective: Process, Beans and Bagels, Chicago, IL 2015 Collective: for(a)ging, Hammond Art Center; Hammond, IN How We Make It, The Arts of Life, Chicago, IL Collective: One, Albany Park...

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them into images of intimacy. Rick Sindt Without Heaviness oil on panel 12h x 9w x 1.50d in 30.48h x 22.86w x 3.81d cm RIS040 “This body of work has been crystalizing in my mind for about five years,” says Sindt, “It is the product of reflecting on how the places I learned the most about myself, and my desires, are considered something that sullies a person, something taboo.” Focused on the experiences of gay men, this body of oil paintings depicts moments that range from tender touches to more sexually explicit acts. “It was important to me that I only represent what I know,” explains Sindt, “I identify as a man, and I am attracted to others who identify as men. I don’t believe it is my place to speak on behalf of other members of the queer community whose experiences I am unfamiliar with.” “In creating this work, I spoke with men who told me about how they hid magazines when they were a kid, took out P.O. Boxes in their small hometowns to protect their privacy, and learned how to cover their tracks on the internet. These secretive acts become necessary when the need to understand yourself is great, but your world is bereft of representation." Rick Sindt b. 1990, Hastings, MN, EDUCATION 2013 North Park University, Chicago, IL - BFA Magna Cum Laude SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2016 Two Countries, Rogue Philanthropy, Chicago, IL 2013 Tides, Erosion or Catch, Pull, Recover; The-One-Right-Now, North Park University; Chicago, IL GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 Are We Not of Interest to Each Other, Uptown Arts Center, Chicago, IL Reinventing Ourselves From Another Point-of-View, Contemporary Gallery at Zhou B. Arts Center, Chicago, IL Collective: Process, Beans and Bagels, Chicago, IL 2015 Collective: for(a)ging, Hammond Art Center; Hammond, IN How We Make It, The Arts of Life, Chicago, IL Collective: One, Albany Park...

"Reticent" by Rick Sindt is a small graphite drawing of two figures. This deceptively simple drawing is very powerful in its beauty and intimacy. The graph ...

This untitled work by Rick Sindt is a small graphite drawing of two male figures with their backs to the viewer. Their focus is something out of our viewin...

"Untitled #5" is a graphite drawing by Rick Sindt. The two figures are entwined peacefully in this small portrait. The graphite is reminiscent of the old ...

"Held" by Rick Sindt is a small graphite drawing of two male figures embracing. This deceptively simple drawing is very powerful in its beauty and intimacy. The graph lines often u...

"Untitled #6" is a graphite drawing by Rick Sindt. The central figure is gazing onto the other with such intensity yet that is offset by the gentle caress of the hair. The graphite...

"Pause" by Rick Sindt is a small graphite drawing of two male figures - one gazing directly at the viewer. We, the viewer, seem to be interrupting this i...