You Come To Life
Ricky Bearghost and BJ Armour
at Artyard
October 28th, 2023 - January 21st, 2024

Opening reception 6-8pm on October 28th with a performance and dance party at 5:30pm by BJ Armour at Studio Route 29, which leads us from Rich Auth and Christian Turner "Utopia" opening the same day, 4-6pm, at Beauty Gallery, over to ArtYard.

You Come To Life brings to ArtYard two artists whose work gives form to stories and histories of places remembered, imagined, and dreamt. Ricky Bearghost gathers together in color objects that, interwoven, call to places and people of importance to his life and position his textile work as pieces of a world in connection, extended outwards. In rhythm with the spell-like rapture of his dreaming, BJ Armour’s drawing and painting practice bring into the this world lovingly entangled visions of another, in which pop culture heroes, loved ones living and no longer, and his own powers to move through time offer companionship, love, affirmation, and agency.

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Born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Ricky Bearghost is an active member of the Three Affiliated Tribes—the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. In 1970, Ricky moved to Salem, Oregon, and in 1988 he relocated to Portland, where he developed his creative practice at different progressive studio programs including Project Grow, Art From the Heart, and Portland Art and Learning Studios. His beautiful, sometimes ragged tapestries, constructed from bits of Ricky’s environment as well as contributions from the people in his life, can be seen as a profound celebration of community and a testament to place.
Ricky’s work is currently supported by the progressive studio Elbow Room. His visionary and resourceful textiles have been exhibited at the Portland Art Museum, Lowell (Portland, OR), Webb Gallery (Waxahachie, TX), Galerie COA (Montreal, QC), and Community Warehouse (Portland, OR).


BJ Armour is an artist, musician, and performer born in Frankfurt Germany. BJ grew up with his mother in Memphis, Tennessee. After graduation from high school, he worked as an assistant to his mother, a visual artist. Upon her death he came to live with his aunt and her partner in Lambertville, NJ. BJ loves people and believes that people should love each other. He loves to be in nature, he loves to dance, and to teach people how to do movements. BJ makes art to make people happy. BJ is influenced by his godfather and mentor, Wiley Henry, a noted journalist and artist working in Memphis, Tennessee. BJ’s artwork has been shown at Early Bird Espresso (Frenchtown, NJ) and at Beauty Gallery (Frenchtown, NJ.