Opening on October 26th, Ryan Bock (aka Bockhaus) will present Somnambulist a solo exhibition of new works at Harlem's Ki Smith Gallery. In what promises to be one of the season’s most timely yet strikingly unexpected shows, Somnambulist harkens back to the hey-day of German Expressionism, conceived through the lens of today's digitized world.

Taking primary inspiration from German silent horror film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”(1921), this radical installation transports its viewers to an immersive Dystopian dreamscape, where seemingly ordinary objects are imbued with insidious agendas. Assembled from a garden variety of bed-frames and "functional items made non-functional", Somnambulist's black-and-white “shadow world” is a frightening psychological analysis of America, examining the intersection between historical events and contemporary times.

Just as Surrealists of the 1920's drew influence from Freud's dream studies, Bock also muses on the uninhibited state of sleep, and the subtle, hypnotic process through which deep-seated horrors can awaken within our own subconscious. "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is an allegory about the tragedy of World War I and Germany's economic depression that foreshadowed the rise of Nazism and World War II --- and with Somnambulist, Bock illustrates the startling divide between city and rural American life that gave way to Trumpism and the Alt-Right movement. Bock seizes upon this eerie correlation & realizes that YES -- Americans were lulled into a vulnerable state, losing control over their own actions & allowing history to repeat itself once more…..

The artist states: “I’m here to report, not to provide anyone with a false, idealized version of the world. In terms of what I’m trying to communicate: I hope that it’s hopeful. I hope that there is hope.”

Somnambulist will be on view through November 23rd. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11-7pm.