Tom Starland
(5/04/25) A Visit To The Land Of The Cowboy Myth With Kristi Ryba
I don't have much time to get out and actually see some of the art we present to you in an issue of "Carolina Arts", but I made an exception to go see the exhibition, "The Cowboy Myth", featuring works by Kristi Ryba, on view at the Corrigan Gallery LLC, from May 1 - 31, 2025. I went during the Charleston Gallery Association's First Friday ArtWalk. I went early to avoid the crowds.
I have to say that with each visit I make to Charleston, SC, a well preserved city and always voted as most polite - the changing landscape just depresses me. Don't get me wrong, all the historic parts of Charleston are still there, but the surrounding areas which were empty when Linda and I lived in downtown Charleston (well over 40 years ago), are now filled with massive apartment complexes. As I used to tell family and friends back in Michigan when they asked what Charleston was like, I'd say, "It's 300 years of history and 30 years of progress." Unfortunately, that so called progress is catching up way too fast. But I still love walking the streets of Charleston.
Why go see this show over all the others being offered throughout the Carolinas? In a few words, I'm a resistor to the Trump administration and everything MAGA, and Kristi Ryba's previous art project dealt with in her words, "After my dismay and depression over the November 2016 election I began to substitute photographs of Trump, his administration, family, associates, tweets and quotes into existing manuscripts and altarpieces that depict, illuminate or illustrate what I believe is the shallow and corrupt nature of his government. It has been illuminating to me how so many of these imperial and grand images from Medieval and Renaissance European royalty relate to our present situation."
I love it when an artist can make a political statement. Plus, Ryba and I, with a few others, stood on a protest line many a day in downtown Charleston. She has moved from Charleston to Virginia to be closer to family and during her artistic return to the Lowcountry I wanted to see her new works and her. We resistors have to stick together.
This new work was not about Trump directly, but more about his supporters and followers. Ryba notes that in a letter written by American, historian Heather Cox Richardson, she wrote, "Conservatives reacted and took as their symbol the mythologized version of the western American cowboy... In the mid-1950s, Americans tuned in to "Gunsmoke", "Rawhide", "Bonanza", "Wagon Train", and "The Lone Ranger" to see hardworking white men fighting off evil, seemingly without help from the government.’ This image of the cowboy was always a myth. Life was hard, the work paid low wage, and one third of the cowboys were men of color.”
You may have noticed my Facebook profile is a photo of me, perhaps 5 or 6 years old, born in 1951, with a cowboy hat and my six-shooter - getting the drop on some lowdown cattle rustlers. I watched all those TV shows, but then I grew up and started reading the truth about the old west.
Ryba says, “In this new work I emphasize the cliched relationship between Indians, cowboys, guns and the violence towards these and other marginalized people. Considering our government’s focus on Manifest Destiny and our recent lurch toward fascism and dictatorship, this work seems timely."
Many people still believe White men built America, but did they? It you go by the facts and not television scripts, you might get a different picture. We killed and took the land from Native Americans and brought slaves and immigrants in to do all the dirty work, while White men got rich. When people talk about making America Great Again, they want to go back to those times - when they had and controlled everything and everybody. Frankly I don't see that it's that much different today, but I guess they want more.
Ryba's new works deals with our collective cowboy myths. It's not a large exhibition, but one worth seeing for those who like facts more than myth. To me, the images look as if they could be illustrations in a children's book - part of the Golden Book series, maybe titled, "Watch Jane Run From the Indian. Cowboy Dick Saves Her!".
When family and friends came to visit when we lived in downtown Charleston, at some point as we toured the city, someone would always remark about what an amazing city Charleston was and how well persevered it is. And, being the transplanted Damn Yankee that I am, I would always remind them, "Yes, it is amazing - the best city built by slaves." The look on their faces was priceless. The Charleston area was also home to Native Americans too.
I'm including some photos I took of the exhibit and the first two are of images from Ryba's Medieval works. I've also included a few of the Corrigan Gallery's available works, some from The Charleston Renaissance period including works by Elizabeth O’Neill Verner, Alfred Hutty, William Halsey, and Corrie McCallum, plus works by some of todays best artists.

Tom Starland
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Tom Starland

(5/04/25) A Visit To The Land Of The Cowboy Myth With Kristi Ryba I don't have much time to get out and actuall...


·
(5/04/25) A Visit To The Land Of The Cowboy Myth With Kristi Ryba
I don't have much time to get out and actually see some of the art we present to you in an issue of "Carolina Arts", but I made an exception to go see the exhibition, "The Cowboy Myth", featuring works by Kristi Ryba, on view at the Corrigan Gallery LLC, from May 1 - 31, 2025. I went during the Charleston Gallery Association's First Friday ArtWalk. I went early to avoid the crowds.
I have to say that with each visit I make to Charleston, SC, a well preserved city and always voted as most polite - the changing landscape just depresses me. Don't get me wrong, all the historic parts of Charleston are still there, but the surrounding areas which were empty when Linda and I lived in downtown Charleston (well over 40 years ago), are now filled with massive apartment complexes. As I used to tell family and friends back in Michigan when they asked what Charleston was like, I'd say, "It's 300 years of history and 30 years of progress." Unfortunately, that so called progress is catching up way too fast. But I still love walking the streets of Charleston.
Why go see this show over all the others being offered throughout the Carolinas? In a few words, I'm a resistor to the Trump administration and everything MAGA, and Kristi Ryba's previous art project dealt with in her words, "After my dismay and depression over the November 2016 election I began to substitute photographs of Trump, his administration, family, associates, tweets and quotes into existing manuscripts and altarpieces that depict, illuminate or illustrate what I believe is the shallow and corrupt nature of his government. It has been illuminating to me how so many of these imperial and grand images from Medieval and Renaissance European royalty relate to our present situation."
I love it when an artist can make a political statement. Plus, Ryba and I, with a few others, stood on a protest line many a day in downtown Charleston. She has moved from Charleston to Virginia to be closer to family and during her artistic return to the Lowcountry I wanted to see her new works and her. We resistors have to stick together.
This new work was not about Trump directly, but more about his supporters and followers. Ryba notes that in a letter written by American, historian Heather Cox Richardson, she wrote, "Conservatives reacted and took as their symbol the mythologized version of the western American cowboy... In the mid-1950s, Americans tuned in to "Gunsmoke", "Rawhide", "Bonanza", "Wagon Train", and "The Lone Ranger" to see hardworking white men fighting off evil, seemingly without help from the government.’ This image of the cowboy was always a myth. Life was hard, the work paid low wage, and one third of the cowboys were men of color.”
You may have noticed my Facebook profile is a photo of me, perhaps 5 or 6 years old, born in 1951, with a cowboy hat and my six-shooter - getting the drop on some lowdown cattle rustlers. I watched all those TV shows, but then I grew up and started reading the truth about the old west.
Ryba says, “In this new work I emphasize the cliched relationship between Indians, cowboys, guns and the violence towards these and other marginalized people. Considering our government’s focus on Manifest Destiny and our recent lurch toward fascism and dictatorship, this work seems timely."
Many people still believe White men built America, but did they? It you go by the facts and not television scripts, you might get a different picture. We killed and took the land from Native Americans and brought slaves and immigrants in to do all the dirty work, while White men got rich. When people talk about making America Great Again, they want to go back to those times - when they had and controlled everything and everybody. Frankly I don't see that it's that much different today, but I guess they want more.
Ryba's new works deals with our collective cowboy myths. It's not a large exhibition, but one worth seeing for those who like facts more than myth. To me, the images look as if they could be illustrations in a children's book - part of the Golden Book series, maybe titled, "Watch Jane Run From the Indian. Cowboy Dick Saves Her!".
When family and friends came to visit when we lived in downtown Charleston, at some point as we toured the city, someone would always remark about what an amazing city Charleston was and how well persevered it is. And, being the transplanted Damn Yankee that I am, I would always remind them, "Yes, it is amazing - the best city built by slaves." The look on their faces was priceless. The Charleston area was also home to Native Americans too.
I'm including some photos I took of the exhibit and the first two are of images from Ryba's Medieval works. I've also included a few of the Corrigan Gallery's available works, some from The Charleston Renaissance period including works by Elizabeth O’Neill Verner, Alfred Hutty, William Halsey, and Corrie McCallum, plus works by some of todays best artists.

Kristi Ryba wins 2nd Place Award

Part II takes place from November 15 - December 24, 2017.
The first 3 images, Saints Triptych, St. James Comey Martyr and Consolation of Philosophy, in New Work 2017, will be shown.

City Gallery's next exhibition, on view September 17-October 30, features more than forty artists from across the Southeast. On & Off the Page explores numerous questions, including understanding the identity and cultural label of the maker through time. Are they artist, craftsperson, maker, or creative entrepreneur? Co-curators Kristen Solecki and Kris Westerson show that as much as technology appears to change, much remains the same in bookbinding and printmaking. But what is the future of the book and hand-pulled print in the digital age? Join us for the opening reception on Friday, September 16 from 5-7pm.

Kristi Ryba awarded the FY2022 South Carolina Individual Artist Fellow

Fellowships recognize and reward the artistic achievements of South Carolina’s exceptional individual artists.


Visual Art | KRISTI RYBA | Charleston County

Winner of the 2020 South Arts State Fellowship for South Carolina and a 2018 ArtFields second place award, Ryba’s work has been touring the Southeast in painting and printmaking exhibitions since 1990. A Magna cum laude graduate of the College of Charleston, Ryba also studied at Vermont Studio School and Studio Camnitzer in Valdotavvo, Lucca, Italy, and has her Master of Fine Arts from Union Institute and University, Vermont College. She has won various awards and scholarships. A founding organizer of Print Studio South, Inc., she served as its president and on its board and has taught locally in both adult and children’s programs. Ryba was one of 10 artists featured in a 2002 Piccolo Spoleto exhibit and was invited to exhibit in Contemporary Charleston 2004 and in Helping Hands: an artist’s debut among friends in 2005. Her work was featured in the 2018 Biennial in Columbia. Ryba also exhibited at Silo in New York City and her work wa