Ryder Richards (born 1977) is an American artist, writer, and curator. He works in the field of conceptual art, critical theory, and installation. His art practice consists of several bodies of work, often researching cultural violence, conspiracy voids and architectural influence. He has participated in several collaborative art groups. Early life and education Richards was born in 1977 in Roswell, New Mexico. He was raised in Roswell, and moved to Lubbock, Texas in 1994. In 2001, he attained a bachelor's degree in painting and drawing with a minor in architecture from Texas Tech University. His master's degree in painting was awarded from Texas Christian University in 2003. During his studies he attended the Europäische Kunstakademie in Trier, Germany (2002) and Lorenzo De Medici Art Institute in Florence, Italy (2000). Career From 2005 to 2010 Richards opened and directed two alternative gallery spaces, Art Depot and Art Depot Annex, in Lubbock, Texas becoming the Gallery Director of Richland College from 2009 to 2012. Richards has taught at Texas Tech University and Texas Christian University. He currently teaches sculpture and drawing at Eastfield College. Richards has participated in several artist-in-residence programs, most recently spending one year in Roswell, New Mexico (2012–13). Richards has exhibited at the Bellevue Museum, Seattle; Roswell Museum, Roswell, NM; Antena, Chicago; Falling Water, Pennsylvania; Olm Space, Nuechatel, Switzerland; Seed Space, Nashville; Olive Tjaden Gallery, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Monkskirche, Tangermunde, Germany; C2 Pottery Gallery, China; BlueOrange, Houston; as well as The Power Station, The Reading Room, and Gray Matters in Dallas. He has participated in the Texas Biennial 2011 and 2013 and the Dallas Biennial 2012 and 2014. Richards has works in the permanent collections of the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, and Roswell Museum. Collaborative practice In 2007 he co-founded the RJP Nomadic Gallery with Jonathan Whitfill and Piotr Chizinski. The project converts a 24-foot Ryder truck into a traveling exhibition space. The project has led to over 20 exhibits including participation in the Texas Biennial 2011 and exhibiting at Blue Star Contemporary in San Antonio, Texas. In 2011 the founders developed the “RJP Nomadic Gallery Kit 2.0,” an open-source gallery model displayed in the traveling exhibit CTRL+P at Houston Center for Craft in Houston, Texas and Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design in Asheville, North Carolina. In 2009 Richards became a founding member of Culture Laboratory Collective, an American internet-based collective “working loosely around the question