Zachariah Riley

Ode to the Façade*

23 July - 21 August 2024

‘Zachariah Riley’s works rarely take on the same material qualities twice. Made up of assemblages of everyday objects and manufactured mysteries, Riley’s process exists in the hallways of the workshop, the bus ride to the studio, the walk through a shop and the poor quality images that are obscured and go unnoticed in our visual culture’ — Sueann Chan

In this new work Riley repurposes popular animated film characters, transforming them to reflect the worlds they come from, creating an engaging illusion. By manipulating materials and formalistic techniques, Riley explores the theme of control: who holds it? The characters, once mere toys and actors, are now human-sized, their limbs and forms adapting to new roles dictated by their altered scale. Propped, perched and leaning within these swiftly glimpsed spaces, waiting for something else to happen.

Materials typically used for building repairs become the motives through which the work is displayed. Viewed from the street through big windows the characters are flattened, like the single window next to the characters obscured by a plaster brick wall which could easily go unnoticed, but that's precisely the point. It's inviting you to look closely; only then will you see that the plaster wall has a soft edge, subtly breathing with the indoor atmosphere. Their presence, both hidden and revealed, challenges the observer to discern the subtle interplay between the familiar and the reimagined, urging a deeper contemplation of boundaries.

Zachariah Riley (b. 1996, UK) lives and works in London. He is currently studying his MA at the Royal Academy of Art and graduated from UEL, Fine art (2018). Riley's book 'Revved Up' launched at the ICA, London (2023) and he was selected for the John Moores painting prize, Liverpool (2023). Riley has shown internationally at Threshold projects in Thee Process, Australia (2023) Flirt in The Vault, RA, London (2023).

Email admin@glasscloudgallery.co.uk to enquire about the works in the exhibition

@zachariahriley

Slide show above: Left to right: Untitled (Variable actor 1) 182.8 x 110 x 1cm Oil based print ink, plasterboard, building. Untitled (Variable actor 2) 179.3 x 110 x 1cm, oil based print ink, plasterboard, building. Untitled (Variable actor 3) 167.6 x 110 x 1cm, oil based print ink, plasterboard, building. Untitled (Variable actor 4) 179.3 x 110 x 1cm, oil based print ink, plasterboard, building. Untitled (Static quivering) 252 x 112 x 3cm, plaster, wood, scrim, building.

Photography by Dean Brannagan

Shop the Exhibition