Ryan McCann

Formerly a star quarterback for UCLA, Los Angeles-based artist Ryan McCann has successfully made the impossible jump from sport to contemporary art (one might recall the distant past of Matthew Barney and how his experiences inform his leviathan practice). Incorporating tongue-in-cheek memes and politically incorrect cultural observations, McCann reinvigorates the ancient art of pyrography, taking a pen-tip torch to a plank of wood, overlaid with acrylic paint. His work has been covered for ESPN.com, NY Arts Magazine and the Miami New Times and shows with Black Square Gallery in Miami, where he will present his first solo exhibition this spring.