Ryan McGinness's work provides a commentary on iconography, language, and historical and contemporary symbolism. McGinness’ work consists of an amalgam of icons and symbols in which originals do not exist. Instead, his graphic drawings and personal iconography are replicated, recontextualized and materialized infinity throughout his densely layered paintings and installations.
When McGinness’ images collide through his method of silkscreening, new and unique universes are formed and captured in his paintings. He explains, “The paintings are beginning to grow and compose themselves organically, Often the individual detailed forms that make up the whole are fragmented and leave abstract traces. The paintings have begun to more bluntly reflect intuitive decision-making than in previous work”.
Born 1971, Virginia Beach, VA
Carnegie Mellon University, BFA
Curatorial Assistant, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
Lives and works in New York, NY
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2013 Women & Mindscapes, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki.
2011 Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles.
2010 New Tondos, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland.
2008 Aesthetic Comfort, Cincinnati Art Museum
2009 Ryan McGinness Works, Deitch Projects, New York.
2007 stephane simoens contemprary fine art, Knokke, Belgium
A Rich Fantasy Life, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA,
2006 Never Odd Or Even, Galeria Moriarty, Madrid, Spain; Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam, Netherlands;
Paolo Curti/Annamaria Gambuzzi and Co., Milan, Italy.
Gas, Grass, or Ass (Nobody Rides for Free), Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, East Hampton, NY.
Mildly Subversive, Montserrat College of Art Gallery, Beverly, MA.
2005 New Paintings, Danziger Projects, New York, NY.
Installationview, Deitch Projects, New York, NY.
Wall Paintings, Publico, Cincinnati, OH.
The Burden of Keeping it Real, André Simoens Gallery, Knokke-Zoute, Belgium.
Pain-Free Kittens, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA.
2004 Multiverse, Galerie du Jour, Paris, France.
Bucky Balls, Printed Matter, New York, NY.
Living Signs, Galeria Moriarty, Madrid, Spain.
2003 Project Rainbow, 222 Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
Worlds within Worlds, Deitch Projects, New York, NY.
Sponsorship, Black Market Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2002 This Dream Is So Life-Like, Gas Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Products Are The New Art, Printed Matter, New York, NY.
Dream Garden, (with Julia Chiang), Deitch Projects, New York, NY.
Fancy Is a Verb, Twentyfour, Vancouver, Canada.
Sign Language, Stux Gallery Project Room, New York, NY.
2001 Evolution Is the Theory of Everything, Parco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Sign Age, Galerie de Miguel, Munich, Germany.
Pieceofmind, Colette, Paris, France.
Vocabularytest, Joseph Silvestro Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.
2000 Shtick, Houston Gallery, Seattle, WA.
Luxurygood, Alife, New York, NY.
1999 Flatnessisgod, Zakka, New York, NY.
1998 Networking Is a Skill, Chaos, New York, NY.
1997 No Sweat, Manhattan Athletic Club, New York, NY.
1996 Slow Children Playing, Curated by Gil Presti, Mad River Post, New York, NY.
Group Exhibitions (selected)
2006 Graphic Content, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH.
New, Stephane Simoens Contemporay Fine Art, Knokke, Belgium.
USA Today, The Saatchi Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, London, England.
Spank the Monkey, Curated by Peter Doroshenko & Pedro Alonzo, Baltic Centre for
Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England.
H.O.L.L.A.N.D., Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Since 2000: Printmaking Now, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Garden Party, Deitch Projects, New York, NY.
2005 Threshold, Max Wigram Gallery, London, England.
Greater New York 2005, P.S.1 / Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.
2004 Will Boys Be Boys? Questioning Adolescent Masculinity in Contemporary Art
Organized by Independent Curators International, Curated by Shamim Momin, 2004-2006:
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN; Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, FL;
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Museum of Contemporary
Art, Denver, CO; Salina Art Center, Salina, KS.
The Dreamland Artists Club, Coney Island, Creative Time, New York, NY.
Beautiful Losers, Curated by Aaron Rose & Christian Strike, 2004-2008: Le Tri Postal, Lille,
France; Palazzo dell’Arte, Milan, Italy; USF Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, FL;
Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD; Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA;
Yerba Buena Arts Center, San Francisco, CA; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH.
La Collection d’Art Contemporain d’Agnès B., Les Abattoirs Museum, Toulouse, France.
Earthly Delights, MassArt, Sandra and David Bakalar Gallery, Boston, MA.
2003 Airtight Plan for Killing, Buia Gallery, New York, NY.
A New New York Scene, Galerie du Jour, Paris, France.
Lead Poisoning, Curated by Rich Jacobs & Marsea Goldberg, New Image Art, Los Angeles, CA.
North Star Video Screening, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
2002 SK8 on The Wall, Gallery Rocket, Tokyo, Japan.
Session The Bowl, Deitch Projects, New York, NY.
Street Wise, A-Part Gallery, London.
Group Show, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA.
2001 Grandes Arquitecturas Pequenas, Curated by Fernando Martin Galan, Galeria Dasto and Centro
de Arte Dasto, Oviedo, Spain.
Spunky, Exit Art, New York, NY.
Group Show, Curated by Jodi Hanel and Jenny Moore, Ground Zero, New York, NY.
2000 Critic as Grist, Curated by Michael Portnoy, White Box, New York, NY.
Tomorrow, Curated by Andréa Salerno and Mari Spirito, Rare, New York, NY.
Le Salon for Art Collectors, Curated by Vanessa Suchar, Babylon, London, UK.
Group Show, Steffany Martz, New York, NY.
Interior Spaces in Contemporary Art, Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion,
Stamford, CT.
1999 Size Matters, Gale Gates, Brooklyn, NY.
Photo Synthesis, Rare, New York, NY.
Road Show, DFN Gallery, New York, NY.
Room with a View, Curated by Jeff Gleich, Sixth@Prince Fine Art, New York, NY.
LA National Juried Art Exhibition, Curated by Mat Gleason, Patricia Correia Gallery, Los
Angeles, CA
1998 Fresh Blood: 13 Young Artists, Archibold Arts, New York, NY.
1997 Summer Invitational, Steffany Martz, New York, NY.
Wet Paint, Mary Anthony, New York, NY.
Group Show, a+a Company, New York, NY
1996 Giftland v: Democra$y, Printed Matter, New York, NY
Night of 1,000 Drawings, Artists Space, New York, NY