Ted Riederer ‘Drums and Roses’ on view at the RLWindow

Scheduled Performances:
Ted Riederer: Wednesday, July 13, 7pm
Joe Goretti: Wednesday, July 20, 5:30pm
Tennessee Thomas: Wednesday, July 27, 5:30pm
Charlotte Kahn: Wednesday, August 3, 5:30pm
Final performance: Saturday, September 10, 5:30pm

RYAN LEE is pleased to present Drums and Roses, a site-specific installation and series of performances by Ted Riederer. In each 10-minute performance, Riederer invites a musician to improvise on the drum set using 10 dozen roses instead of wooden mallets. The roses burst apart with each strike on the tom-toms and cymbals. Bright petals ricochet off the walls, carpeting player and instrument alike. Riederer replaces the naked stems with fresh roses until there are no flowers left to give the partipcating dummer. When the performance concludes and the drummer exits the space, the roses remain as sculptural evidence.

The act of percussion becomes purely visual in Drums and Roses, as viewers cannot hear the drums from the High Line. By interrupting the connection between sight and sound, Riederer reimagines the possibilities of music beyond the aural. Drums and Roses has been previously performed in London, Liverpool, INOVA in Wisconsin for Michelle Grabner’s 2012 survey, Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York, NY), Jonathan Ferrara Gallery (New Orleans, LA), the Hermitage (Sarasota, FL), Project One Gallery (San Francisco, CA), and Bob Rauschenberg Gallery (Ft. Myers, FL). A selection of works from Riederer’s multidisciplinary practice will accompany the performances, on view in the RL Project exhibition space.