Artist Registry


The White Columns Curated Artist Registry is an online platform for emerging and under-recognized artists to share images and information about their respective practices. The Registry seeks to create a context for artists who have yet to benefit from wider critical, curatorial or commercial support. To be eligible, artists cannot be affiliated with a commercial gallery in New York City.




To apply to the Registry, click here. Join our mailing list here to receive our open call announcement and other programming updates. For any further questions about the Registry, please contact us at registry@whitecolumns.org.

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Christian Rieben
Kewaunee WI US
Updated: 2024-10-07 08:40:45

STATEMENT OF WORK

My work takes place in a Jungian forest of paradise and paradox. All cultures possess the art of storytelling; stories reinforce mores, they bond related peoples and hone social skills. Children willingly listen to stories, but not to rules, so fairytales serve as instruction. The stories in my paintings are sometimes subversive, but they’re only illustrating what’s already within our minds. The characters, places, and narratives are related to those that we encounter in our world – they might reflect contemporary political and social discourses, or they might represent a personal situation that I find myself in; sometimes they fall between the categories we use to organize our lives. Whatever they are, I have a compulsion to expose them, a belief that other people also know these stories. The work contains lots of archetypal elements that cross cultures and time periods. Using an expressive interpretation of the natural world allows me scope for invention and empathy. If I have a specific agenda for the work, I would say it’s the hope the whimsical nature of the work seduces the viewer into considering important ideas and discussions they might otherwise avoid.