Native Twist

Ryan Singer is a Native American painter, but don't confuse him with R.C. Gorman or some other traditionalist you see hanging in downtown Scottsdale galleries. Toss a hit or two of acid at Gorman, and you're getting close.

Ryan Singer

Coffee in the Evening

Nonsense on the Road

The Reality of Advertising

Related Content

• Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams Now in Arizona
  November 22, 2011
• Maui Coconut Porter
  June 29, 2011
• "POP! Pop Culture in American Indian Art" blends Warhol and Spider-Man with Ceramics and Beadwork
  August 26, 2010
• Clown Shoes Tramp Stamp
  August 8, 2011
• Renetto-Mario Etsitty
  April 7, 2011

More About

• Ryan Singer
• R.C. Gorman
• Navajo Indian Reservation
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Visual Arts

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Arts and Theater Newsletter: Weekly information keeping you in the know when it comes to the Phoenix art and theater scene. Find out about upcoming performances, exhibitions, openings and special events.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Singer grew up on the Navajo reservation. Today he paints in a tiny apartment in Mesa. His roots are visible on the wall, in a huge yellow caution sign he's painted with a burning wagon in the middle. Singer painted it after a former co-worker called him a "wagon burner." The slur stuck with him, and he created the painting as a logo for his art.

"It's kind of humorous but serious at the same time," Singer says of the logo. "People can decide how they take it -- some people get offended, others think it's great," he says. That piece is an example of the offbeat influence Singer's heritage has on his work.

"A native guy in a cowboy hat riding a bull is obvious," he says. "Anyone can paint that. Native art has been rehashed for years and nothing new ever comes out."

Singer's trying hard to change that. One of his paintings depicts a saguaro wearing a cowboy hat and spurs, riding a mechanical bull in the middle of an imaginary ocean. In the bottom corner of the painting, a sly effigy of Columbus' ship the Santa Maria floats upside down.

Another painting, titled Nonsense on the Road, depicts a Native man driving a Cadillac through an otherworldly desertscape while a buxom Amazon leers at him from the side of the road.

Singer has had more and more success lately selling his work, but has a hard time letting go of his paintings. He touches one tenderly and says, "My paintings are almost like little kids -- I don't want to sell them or give them up."

A real newborn son -- whose nursery is set up in an adjacent bedroom -- might change that sentiment quickly for Singer. In fact, he's got a one-man show, "Persistence of Paradox," opening Friday, October 1, at the ASU Downtown Center, 502 East Monroe -- if you'd care to contribute to the junior Singer's college fund.