Ronny Long - My Life on Earth 1991-2002
Private View: Friday 14th October 7:30pm
Exhibition: Sat 15th Oct – Sat 5th Nov, Mon – Sat, 12 – 6pm
SPECIAL SCREENINGS + EVENTS
THURSDAY 20th OCT 7pm: What Is It? ‘ – Bigfoot Life Drawing Class (More info at bottom of page)
SATURDAY 5th NOV 6pm: Wild Man Film Night (More info at bottom of page)
RONNY LONG – MY LIFE ON EARTH 1991-2002
Born in Dallas, Texas in 1983, Ronny Long is a self-taught artist whose particular obsessions with horror, wrestling and Bigfoot have fuelled his extraordinary work. My Life on Earth 1991-2002, his debut show, brings together a selection from his huge body of drawing, painting, photography and video. At his most productive between the ages of nine and sixteen, Long's work plays out the fantasies of his suburban adolescence in a kind of fever, exasperated by limited parental supervision and endless repeat viewings of Leonard Nimoy’s Ancient Mysteries, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Although Bigfoot was initially a source of fear for Long (as a child he would frequently obsess over Bigfoot roaming around his neighbourhood or finding his way into the family home), the creature has fuelled much of his work. From childhood doodles and drawings of Sasquatch through to his most recent cycle of Bigfoot paintings, the idea of a human-like creature existing somewhere outside of society, unknown, unseen and untamed, has proved integral to Long's vision.
The spectacle of pro-wrestling also captured Long’s imagination at an early age, and between the ages of six and twelve he created hundreds of drawings of wrestlers and wrestling matches. My Life on Earth 1991-2002 also includes extensive documentation of Texas Back Yard Wrestling - the wrestling federation Long created and inaugurated at his 12th birthday party. Running for over two years, performed in homebuilt rings, TBW had elaborate storylines, costumes, belts and publicity material, with Long ensuring every match was documented. TBW’s cast of wrestlers included, amongst others, The Mental Moron, General Chaos, Purple Haze, The Neo-Barbarians and Ronny Terror. At its height ABC news aired footage of a TBW bout in which Long had a light bulb smashed into his head.
After the collapse of his federation due to infighting between the wrestlers, Long turned his attentions to film production. Although highly prolific - often making detailed storyboards, costumes, props, posters and trailers - Long rarely completed his films, the slow pace of production unable to keep up with his restless imagination. The list of never-completed titles includes The Nine Bottles of Hell, Escape of a Mental Moron, The Morphation, Cannibals Indigenous, The Animal Wedding and Zombie Bikers. The ephemera surrounding these various unrealized films are now the only traces of what might have been, and also form part of the exhibition.
Ronny Long continues to live and work in the suburbs of Dallas. He has recently completed a feature length film and a new cycle of Bigfoot paintings.
My Life on Earth 1991-2002 is curated by Matthew Killip
THURSDAY 20th OCTOBER 7pm
What Is It? ‘ - Bigfoot Life Drawing Class.
Advance tickets £5 click HERE or £6 on the door (subject to availability) (Taking inspiration from the P.T. Barnham’s 1860's traveling Wildman show,) For 3 hours come observe, study and draw a genuine Wildman in the informal surroundings of the Horse hospital. Space is limited, so in order to avoid disappointment and guarantee a place please buy a ticket online.
SATURDAY 5th NOVEMBER 6pm
Wild Man Film Night
Advance tickets £5 click HERE or £6 on the door (subject to availability) Master of Reality Dir Matthew Killip 'The Wild Child' (L'Enfant sauvage) Dir Francois Truffaut 1970 The Legend of Boggy Creek Dir Charles B.Pierce 1972 The Abominable Snowman (aka The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas) dir Val Guest 1952