On Thursday 24th October, esteemed contemporary artist, Ryan Callanan aka RYCA, is returning to Enter Gallery with his typographic show, Love Letters.
In his latest homage to the written word, RYCA will present over 35 brand new artworks, drawing inspiration from popular culture, film and music. The show is a celebration of love in all its forms, and the unique ways we express and declare it to those that hold our hearts.
In today’s blog, we’re chatting to RYCA to discover more about Love Letters, including some of the songs and movies that make an appearance.
The Artist
For those not yet familiar with RYCA, allow us to introduce you to the man behind the emojis. For more than 15 years, RYCA has been capturing the hearts of art fans across the world with his distinct brand of pop art.
Whether it’s in his limited edition prints, sculptures or infamous recreations of traditional pub signage, RYCA’s unique knack for capturing the zeitgeist has earned him legions of collectors across the world, and high profile collaborations with the likes of Fatboy Slim and artists, Stik and PEZ.
‘Poptorian’ Perfection
Not only is RYCA prolific in his production, but he is also known for his instantly-recognisable fusion of modern inspirations with traditional artistic techniques.
We’re talking of course of his beautifully-crafted classic pub signage, most often seen paired with the sweary sentiments, like Happyfuckindays and Chopfuckinchop, that have earned him his reputation as a typography artist with a cheeky mouth. Love Letters will feature two new sweary statements from RYCA, Rofuckinmance and Karmafuckinsutra.
During our conversation, RYCA described his style of art as ‘Poptorian’…we wanted to hear more. RYCA explains:
“I coined the phrase around 10 years ago, when it occurred to me that there was this subgenre of art forming. I’ve been doing it a long time, as have a lot of traditional glass painters who work in a similar style. I thought it would be cool if this subgenre had a category like Cubism or Surrealism so I just came up with it and thought it was nice. It might not catch on but fuck it, I’m just going to use it.”
Sweet Nothings
Love Letters is the second entirely typographic show that RYCA is hosting at Enter Gallery. It follows his successful 2023 offering, Words Are Weapons, in which he captured provocative statements found in music and film.
Given the more affectionate nature of Love Letters, we were interested to discover what drew RYCA to creating a show entirely around the topic of love. He reveals:
“Love is a theme that’s always in my work. It’s a timeless sentiment. It’s never out of date. Love is universal. We all love people. I’m fortunate to have a big fan base down in Brighton, so I wanted to create something that expresses love and that has cross appeal to all love communities.”
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
To create this latest show, RYCA has chosen poignant phrases from our favourite music and films. But when every other song’s a love song, and romantic movies are a dime a dozen, we were interested to discover how he narrowed down his options…
“It sounds like an easy task, but it has taken ages to whittle it down to snippets and one liners from songs and films that are really powerful.
When you’re trying to represent love, it’s hard not to mention the word ‘love’ a lot, so I was looking for more abstract, metaphorical references. The challenge was to find ways to express love, without mentioning the actual word. I don’t include the whole lyric, so I need to find snippets or statements that bang on their own. These one liners have to become, or already be, a mantra for the people that buy them.It took about six weeks to get the final list down, and then I had to stop umming and ahhing, cut it off and commit. In the end, I had to stop listening to music and listen to Talk Sport instead, because otherwise I’d keep getting distracted by new lyrics that I’d want to add to the list.”
Love Songs
When a show features close to 40 RYCA artworks, it’s only right that we save some surprises for the night. However, we couldn’t resist asking him to reveal some of his favourite pieces from the upcoming show.
“There’s a lot of lyrics across all sorts of genres, because I like to make my references musically eclectic. Keep your eyes out for Kate Bush, Father John Misty, some RnB, and because all that stuff happened with the ticket buying for their tour, an Oasis one crept in there. I’ve done, ‘You’re gonna be the one that saves me’ in their signature font.”
Speaking of one David Bowie inspired piece, RYCA reveals:
“I love stripping back lyrics to just one or two words. My David Bowie piece in Love Letters just says, ‘Hot Tramp’. You don’t need the rest of the words. I think you need five to seven words to be a lyric or a song line, but I enjoy stripping them right back to a couple of words and then they’re not where they started any more. They are something new that exists on their own. It’s mad to think that those two words together only come from one place, and we all know what it is.”
Soppy Scenes
In terms of the inspiration drawn from films, he wouldn’t be the RYCA we know and love without at least one reference to Star Wars. He tells us:
“There’s a Star Wars one that I’ve wanted to make forever. It’s a two-part piece, a diptych, designed to sit side-by-side, which is Hans Solo and Princess Leia’s infamous, ‘I love you’, ‘I know.’”
We know RYCA is an enormous Quentin Tarantino fan, so we were interested to discover whether we can expect a nod to his favourite director in this latest show. He reveals:
“No matter what show I’m doing, I always try and sneak in some Tarantino, and this time I got two in. Stuck in the Middle With You – a lyric that accompanies a memorable scene in Reservoir Dogs. I like this one, because it’s a bit derogatory. It’s basically saying I’m stuck in this shit with you but that makes me happy.
The other one is ‘I Love You, Honey Bunny,’ from Pulp Fiction. I like it that these characters are sweet to each other, and the next thing you know it’s mayhem, much like love.”
We’re launching Love Letters by RYCA at Enter Gallery on Thursday 24th October from 6-8pm. RSVP now to secure your spot
