Ryan B. Richey and Chris Lin/Hannis Pannis – Hissy

A blue flowered dress as evidence of a whole life: Ryan Richey stuffed the dress with cotton and molded the details of the voluminous body simply consisting of the torso and lacking head, arms and legs. He set the soft body onto a chair, where it now seems to relax and attentively observe his surroundings. Without having eyes! Only Ryan Richey can transform a piece of cloth into a sculpture, which seems to be all alive. Thus he portrays people in the most extraordinary way and points out, what is or was peculiar to their personality. Colour, size and model of the dress only form some of the hints to the character of the former wearers. But it is the way their wear their clothes; their posture reveals their attitude between dignity and negligence, between lust for life and depression.

In this current exhibition a woman called Hissy inspired Ryan Richey and Chris Lin - together they form the group Hannis Pannis - to this sculpture and further works. But who was Hissy? Born Hazel Jessup, her siblings found Hissy easier to pronounce. She lived a life of dandy, collected hats, traveled the world, and painted. After her death in 1982, her paintings and hats were distributed amongst her family. Hannis Pannis now show a part of her inheritance, and, step by step, build up a fantastic biography, letting the audience learn all about her life and longings without ever showing a photograph of her face. Hissy's collection of hats inspired Hannis Pannis to a pile of found base caps on a rack, growing in an ongoing process. Her wanderlust motivated the artists to collect found postcards, bringing back memories and greetings from unknown relatives or friends thinking of the addressee while staying abroad.

Hannis Pannis also shows paintings Hissy made from postcards: Fir trees in the snow under a full moon for example or old trees in the back light of sunset. Kitschy sceneries, for sure, but painted with moving naivety. Ryan Richey adopted the painting with the fir trees in the snow under the full moon and completed the scene with a grotesque face between the trees. It is banishing every romantic impression from the picture. Hannis Pannis and Hissy: This exhibition creates a dialogue full of tension and contradictions; it demonstrates an inspiring research for a whole life gone by and its impact on the present.

HANNIS PANNIS is Chris Lin and Ryan B. Richey. They perform music, write, make videos, as well as combine the roles of artist and curator (curist). Their previous engagements include: Julius Caesar, Phyllis' Musical Inn, Richmond Manor, 1213 Sharp, Cinemat, and Sullivan Gallery.

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