Ryan Mulligan mines the best and worst memories of his life in drawings, paintings, sculpture and installation that resonate as private Jungle Gyms and inventory drawers. Mulligan's illustrative drawing style, pastel palette and cartoon-like use of line reduce the severity of his subjects, casting them in a playful, even apologetic light. He draws while absorbing romantic comedies, cooking fajitas or playing on the ground with his toddler son. The studio becomes an extension of the home, a playground for a stimulus junkie. In his last three exhibitions the work is swerving into a lexicon of mid-century modernism and fragments of vintage Disney World. 

Mulligan will exhibit drawings, paintings and sculptures that are in part inspired by the role of fatherhood in his everyday life. In many ways his new work is the creation of a special language with his little boy, Hobbs. The loops and swirls and semi-structures relate to the environments Hobbs frequents.

About the Artist:
Born and raised in rural Virginia, Ryan Mulligan graduated Cum Laude from Virginia Commonwealth University with his MFA and is now Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Cincinnati. Coordinator of the Art Foundations Program, Mulligan teaches students to continually explore their own lives as source material and to maintain a ceaselessly productive studio practice. He has participated in approximately 70 exhibitions, including nearly 30 solo shows. Mulligan's exhibitions include the Baltimore Contemporary Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, the University of Central Arkansas, Bradley University and the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, among other venues.


Exhibition Dates: August 24 - September 28, 2012
Final Friday Reception: August 31, 5:00 - 8:00 pm

**GENERAL INFORMATION**
The Pearlman Gallery is on the first level of the North Building at 1212 Jackson Street across from the Kroger Parking Garage. All exhibitions are free and open to the public. The Gallery will be closed on Monday, September 3. Please call 513.562.6262 for information.