Artist Statement

Dylan Riley’s work is interdisciplinary and employs digital installations to examine elements of artistic delegation, chance, and futility. The works involve processes of self-removal through the transference of compositional elements to automated and process-oriented systems. By designing software that utilizes random number generators and inconsistent processes, the final compositions remain unknown and, in the case of much of the work, are unique, changing through each installation and iteration. However, his removal is incomplete. As the creator of the systems, his sensibilities, visual intuition and desires are imbued within the foundation of each piece. In this way, the work embraces its futility and hypocrisy. It attempts to establish a dialogue, exploring what is lost and what is gained through these acts of delegation and the supposed removal of the self, while speaking more directly to, and within, the pieces’ means of production.

Bio

Dylan Riley was born in 1992 in Los Angeles and was raised outside of San Francisco. He graduated from the NYU Studio Art program in 2017. His work has been shown in Berlinische Galerie, Kimmel Windows, 80WSE, and i-D magazine among others. He currently works and resides in New York.

Dylan Riley’s work was featured in “When A Digital Surface Meets A Mutable Apparatus…” curated by Regina Harsanyi.

Selected Works