ARTIST DUKE RILEY connects past and present through repurposed found materials. Often informed by the maritime folk art aesthetic, his allegorical scrimshaw and eye-popping mosaics reflect on contemporary and historic environmental dilemmas with poignant wit. The result is a fresh offering of modern relics.

 

^{Monument to Five Thousand Years of Temptation and Deception X, 2022,
Reclaimed ocean plastic, paint, fishhooks on panel in wood and plexi case, 27.75 x 48.75 x 4”. Photography courtesy of Danny Perez.}  

^{Six Articles Selected for the Poly S. Tyrene Memorial Maritime Museum, 2020, painted, salvaged plastic, ink, wax. Photography courtesy of Danny Perez.} 

^{Left: No. 32-P of the Poly S. Tyrene Memorial Maritime Museum, 2019, Salvaged, painted plastic, 8.25” x 4” x 2.75”. Right: No. 74-P of the Poly S. Tyrene Memorial Maritime Museum, 2019, Salvaged, painted plastic, 12” x 7.5” x 3.75”. Photo courtesy of Robert Brevdad.} 

^{No. 265 of the Poly S. Tyrene Memorial Maritime Museum, 2019, Salvaged lawn flamingo, 6.5 x 20 x 4.5”. Photo courtesy of Robert Brevdad.} 

^{No. 61, 25-P, 60, 34, and 79-P of the Poly S. Tyrene Memorial Maritime Museum, 2020, Salvaged, painted plastic, various dimensions. Photo courtesy of Robert Brevdad.} 

^{Order from Prescription History, 2020. Found plastic trash, mahogany frame, 67” x 67”. Photography courtesy of Danny Perez.} 

^{Erika, 2022, VTC, alligator teeth, shotgun shells, 64” x 100” x 4”.} 

^{Work in progress, 2023.} 

Riley’s work addresses the tension between individual and collective behavior, independent spaces within all-encompassing societies, and conflict with institutional power, writes the artist. He examines transgression zones and their inhabitants through drawing, printmaking, mosaic, sculpture, performative interventions, infiltrations, and video structured as complex multimedia installations. Through combining populist myths and historical obscurities with contemporary social and environmental dilemmas, he connects past and present, drawing attention to unsolved issues. Throughout his projects he profiles the space where water meets the land, traditionally marking the periphery of urban society, what lies beyond rigid moral constructs, a sense of danger and possibility.