Cameron Wilson Ritcher
Born 1995; Lives in Richmond, VA
Artist Statement
Often the greatest innovations come not from abundance but from scarcity. We can recall examples of this in almost any aspect of culture: architecture, music, food. Some of the most inventive culinary strategies were originally conceived out of economic or agricultural dearth.
I like to play a game in the studio where the only rule is that I cannot buy new materials. Instead, I try to convince myself that there is already a good painting somewhere in my studio, in the heaps of scraps from previous works and housing renovations and rusted buckets of salvaged house paint. While my marks maintain a child-like innocence, the weathered materials evoke nostalgia.
When combined with the structural organization of the pieces, this suggests an urban, industrial history and yet does not impose any concrete narrative on the viewer. The process of painting, cropping, and reassembling allows me to synthesize disparate ideas- to create works that are simultaneously spontaneous and available by accident- yet are entirely within my control. The icons and shapes in my work often are in reference to board games. Games, like art, serve no utilitarian purpose, and yet, are central to culture and a life of substance.
Of course, it is only responsible for me to think of what impact my work may have on the world.
I know, at my core, that I was designed for a very specific job: Making paintings, simply for the sake of making paintings. I feel an intense and spiritual excitement and curiosity while making my work. Maybe it is a glimpse of heaven. My hope is that the viewer would feel at least a fraction of that.
Biography
At the age of ten, Cameron was an established paleontologist, travelling to Utah to excavate dinosaur bones and returning to his 5th grade classroom to present the findings of his research. In middle and high school, he chased dreams of playing the trumpet and racing mountain bikes at a professional level. Late in high school, he realized that visual art was (and is) the unlikely common denominator of all other endeavors.
Cameron began receiving commissions and gaining acceptance into gallery shows his freshman year of college. He graduated from James Madison University in May 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Studio Art as well as a Pre-K-12 Visual Arts Teaching Licensure and won the school’s award for a graduating senior with a concentration in painting. Since graduation, he has won numerous awards in art fairs and juried shows. His works are included in the collections of The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, The JMU School of Integrated Science and Technology, Della Watkins, Director of the Columbia Museum of Art, and Braden Holtby, Goalie of the Washington Capitals.
Education
2017 Bachelor of Science Degree in Studio Art, Pre K-12 Visual Arts Teaching Licensure, Senior Achievement Award - Painting Concentration Area, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Solo Exhibitions
2020- 2023
New Work, Hidell Brooks, Charlotte, NC
New Work, The Walls, Richmond, VA
2019
Immediate Gratification, BOJUart, Virginia Beach, VA
2018
Calvin Ball, Spitzer Art Center, Harrisonburg, VA
2017
Stanley Hudson, 292 N. Gallery, Harrisonburg, VA
2016
Sense of Humor, 292 N. Gallery, Harrisonburg, VA
2015
Everything is a Cat, Artworks, Harrisonburg, VA
2014
Gluttony, Artworks, Harrisonburg, VA
Group Exhibitions and Art Fairs
2023
Ritcher, Sims, Vorona, TEW Galleries, Atlanta, GA
2022
Salon Style, TEW Galleries, Atlanta, GA
Good Will, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Class of 22, Sorelle Gallery, Westport, CT
2021
Poets, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Salon Style, TEW Galleries, Atlanta, GA
Size Doesn’t Matter, Glave Kocen Consulting, Virtual Exhibition
Put a Bird on It, Glave Kocen Consulting, Virtual Exhibition
2020
SIZE DOESN’T MATTER, Glave Kocen Gallery, Richmond, VA
Organized Abstraction, TEW Galleries, Atlanta, GA
2019
Art Inspired, Gallery at 17, Richmond, VA
Current Art Fair, Richmond, VA
Hung Juried, Glave Kocen, Richmond, VA
2018
The Other Art Fair, Mana Contemporary, Chicago, IL
All-Media Juried Show, Crossroads Art Center, Richmond, VA
VA MOCA Boardwalk Art Show, VA Beach, VA
Companion Planting, Arts Council of the Valley, Harrisonburg, VA
2017
Stockley Gardens Fall Arts Festival, Norfolk, VA
National Juried Show at The Bower Center for the Arts, Bedford, VA
LOCAL at The Shenandoah Valley Art Center, Waynesboro, VA
Welcome, 292 N. Gallery, Harrisonburg, VA
6x6x30, Spitzer Art Center, Harrisonburg, VA
Incarnation, 292 N. Gallery, Harrisonburg, VA
2016
RVAS Annual Juried Show, Lynchburg, VA
Hill Center Galleries Regional Juried Exhibition, Washington, DC
Edna Curry/John Bower Exhibition, Bower Center for the Arts, Bedford, VA
6x6x30, Spitzer Art Center, Harrisonburg, VA
Larkin Arts Regional Juried Show, Harrisonburg, VA
Exploring Lent in Black and White, 292 N Gallery, Harrisonburg, VA
James Madison University Undergraduate Juried Show, Harrisonburg, VA
Two:Too, Madison Union, Harrisonburg, VA
2015
The Gallery U Invitational, The Alternative Gallery, Allentown, PA
James Madison University Undergraduate Juried Show, Harrisonburg, VA
2014
James Madison University Undergraduate Juried Show, Artworks, Harrisonburg, VA
2013
6x6 Juried Show, Larkin Arts, Harrisonburg, VA
Buckley Moss Invitational, Waynesboro, VA
Awards/Honors
Marion Park Lewis Foundation Scholarship
Jay D Kain Scholarship in Art Education
Award of Merit- Edna Curry/ John Bower Exhibition, Bedford, VA
Honorable Mention- Riverviews Artspace Annual Juried Show, Lynchberg, VA
Award of Excellence – Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, Winter Park, FL
Thomas A. Felton Jr. Award of Distinction in Fine Art - VA MOCA Boardwalk Art Show, VA Beach, VA
Randy Harris Memorial Award - Stockley Gardens Fall Arts Festival, Norfolk, VA
Honorable Mention - Riverviews Artspace Annual Juried Show, Lynchburg, VA
Award of Merit - Edna Curry/John Bower Exhibition, Bedford, VA
Jay D. Kain Scholarship in Art Education
Marion Park Lewis Foundation Scholarship
JMU Studio Art Achievement Award - Painting Concentration
2015 Juror's Award - James Madison University Undergraduate
2016 Juror's Award - James Madison University Undergraduate
Press
New South Finds; newsouthfinds.com/Cameron-Wilson-Ritcher
Voyage ATL; voyageatl.com/interview/check-out-Cameron-Ritcher-story Inside the Studio with Cameron Ritcher; Sorelle Gallery.com/blogs/news
the Washington Post: Strictly Painting 12 at the McClean project for the Arts; 07/05/2019
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