Ricco/Maresca Gallery

Presentation Details
Ricco/Maresca presents a dual exhibition of Hydeon and Will Thornton, marking the New York debut of both artists with the gallery. Hydeon (Ian Ferguson) distils a broad range of references from Baroque, Gothic, and Victorian architecture; Medieval, folk, and outsider art; fairy tales and myth, into arresting narrative scenes with enigmatic characters. A self-taught painter and sculptor, Thornton makes “quiet portraits” of his own handmade fabric or clay objects in a palette reminiscent of the Old Masters. Through their variations in color, mood, and rhythm, the portraits are “the practice of embedding an object with my hopes and fears to then release into the world,” Thornton says.

About the Gallery
Ricco/Maresca was founded by Frank Maresca and Roger Ricco in 1979 on Broome Street in Soho's then-emerging gallery district. In 1997, the gallery relocated to Chelsea, becoming one of the first galleries to establish itself in the area. Following in the footsteps of the legendary New York dealer Sidney Janis, Ricco/Maresca champions and showcases the art of self-taught masters working outside of the mainstream. The gallery specializes in Outsider art, the work of self-taught contemporary artists, and historically significant American folk art, presenting work in various media. For over 35 years, Ricco/Maresca has helped to blur the lines that have typically separated "marginal" art from conventional art-historical categories through a pioneering program that emphasizes the crossover between vernacular and mainstream traditions, the management of key estates (including those of William Hawkins and Martín Ramírez), and books produced with publishing partners such as Alfred A. Knopf, Little Brown & Company, and Pomegranate Press. Ricco/Maresca is also the gallery partner of Gugging, the mental institution and art atelier in the suburbs of Vienna.