"Exploring woodblock, lithograph, and cyanotype, Duke Riley has realized a number of print projects with Graphicstudio. Monkey Biz incorporates Riley’s scrimshaw illustrative style depicting dense scenes of imaginative maritime activity inviting deeper investigation and decoding by the viewer. In the nautical narratives, Riley weaves historical and contemporary references together providing sharp critical social commentary through references to global capitalism, trade and piracy on the open seas and the effects of consumer culture on the oceans and the Earth’s natural resources.
While Riley’s fantastical illustrations are highly amusing and satirical, the scenes probe criminal, dangerous and marginalized societies and reveal the long trajectory of global colonization and human’s disregard for the Earth’s resources."
