
Ralph Eugene MeatyardIce

Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled

Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled

Ralph Eugene MeatyardChapter Life #4

Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled

Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled

Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled

From 1957 to 1972, Meatyard undertook several different conceptual projects exploring the possibilities of abstraction in photography. In these works, he evokes a world not normally acknowledged with the human eye.
From 1957 to 1972, Meatyard undertook several different conceptual projects exploring the possibilities of abstraction in photography. In these works, he evokes a world not normally acknowledged with the human eye.
The series presents portraits of the artist’s wife wearing a dime-store hag’s mask, paired with various family members and friends who wear a transparent hard-plastic mask. The titles of the images outline cryptic relationships, and in all instances, both figures are identified by the same name: Lucybelle Crater.
A fervent reader, Meatyard was deeply influenced by the writer Ambrose Bierce’s definition in The Devil’s Dictionary: “ROMANCE, n. Fiction that owes no allegiance to the God of Things as They Are.”
Meatyard’s staged images—set in abandoned spaces and often using masks and props—are at once familiar and enigmatic, reflecting the artist’s fascination with the uncanniness of ordinary life.
A meditative study of the mysterious forms of twigs and tree branches, inspired and informed by the artist’s deep study of Zen Buddhism.