Richard 'Dickie' Landry

Hunter Dunbar Projects is pleased to present Solos, Richard 'Dickie' Landry's (b. 1938) first retrospective exhibition in New York. Landry's polymathic practice encompasses music, photography, video, and painting. In 1969, Landry moved to New York City, where he met Philip Glass and became a member of Glass' first ensemble. Landry and his then-wife Tina Girourard forged relationships with prominent figures of the downtown art scene, including Richard Serra, Steve Reich, Joan Jonas, Keith Sonnier, Gordon Matta-Clark, Lawrence Weiner, and Carol Goodden. Landry's black and white photographs commemorate these artists as well as alternative art spaces such as 112 Greene Street and Food in SoHo.

Inspired by his collaborations with fellow Louisianian Keith Sonnier, Landry began making video work and exhibiting at Leo Castelli Gallery. His early 1972 video work Sax was included in the 1973 Biennial at the Whitney Museum. Continuing to perform and record Jazz and Modern Classical, Landry extended his practice to works inspired by the shape of television screens. This axonometric form became the basis for a series of Minimalist works on paper and velum drawings. Early pieces such as his Line Drawings and Video Facets were exhibited at 112 Greene Street in 1975 and more recently at MoMA PS1 in 2016.

From the 1990s to present, Landry has focused his attention on paintings. Landry creates compositions that emphasize internal juxtapositions of geometric form and color. In paintings such as Split Red (2001), a thin strip of red bifurcates parallel sections of black and gray triangles, creating an illusion of depth and space. With each painting, Landry keeps the same outline but changes the internal composition, creating a visual cognate to musical improvisation or variations on a theme.