Ryan McCann’s newest exhibition distorts portraits so that the audience can put themselves in the subject’s shoes. (photo by Jon Viscott/courtesy of the city of West Hollywood)

The city of West Hollywood debuts a new exhibition of artworks by Ryan McCann. “The New Portrait” is a temporary exhibition of 15 unique digital art works printed on vinyl, which represent the diversity of the city in gender, race, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation. The exhibition takes place at two locations.

At the first location, five 10-by-8-foot art works are displayed on the masonry walls on the perimeter of the city-owned parking lot at 8775 Sunset Blvd. At the second location, between 666 and 692 N. Robertson Blvd., 10 4-by-five-foot art works are displayed on a fence adjacent to West Hollywood Park.

In “The New Portrait,” an ongoing body of work, the artist photographs the subjects, distorting them in real time, leaving only the impression of the subject and removing the details that make them personally identifiable. There is no digital manipulation of the image, so what the viewer sees is what the artist sees in the camera. Because the subject’s identity is naturally obscured, the ambiguity allows the viewers to place themselves in the frame and freely attach their own meaning.

“I take the existing world and challenge you to see it differently,” McCann said. “Whether finding the beauty in abstraction in my photos, I encourage the viewer to look past the obvious and take in the beauty we are so fortunate to experience.”

This makes for an effective outdoor art project because the juxtaposition of the familiar presentation (framed art like a museum would show) in an unfamiliar setting (an outdoor parking lot and a fence) makes for an accessible and engaging experience for the diverse audience that is West Hollywood.

McCann played football and studied art and history while at UCLA. In 2003, shortly after graduation and a stint with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, McCann suffered a career-ending injury. This led him back to pursue his passion, art. Since 2004, McCann has exhibited nationally and internationally and is included in several institutional collections. McCann has done public works for Gibson’s Sunset Strip Guitar Town, a mural for the downtown Los Angeles interactive opera Hopscotch and Patron Tequila’s live art on the Hollywood Walk of Fame via the Los Angeles Art Association.

For information, visit weho.org/community/arts-and-culture/visual-arts/art-on-the-outside/the-new-portrait, or contact Mike Che, West Hollywood’s Arts Coordinator, at (323)848-6377 or at mche@weho.org.