Widely recognized for his sculptures and public art installations, Will Ryman’s work is filled with an acute theatricality that harkens back to his early career as a playwright. The artist’s ongoing interest in literature, philosophy, and the Theatre of the Absurd manifests in his playful investigation of the folly of existence and our shared search for meaning and resolve. Material and subject are of equal importance for Ryman, whose work reveals his intuitive approach to sculpting diverse materials into expressive forms that examine essential aspects of the human experience.
Will Ryman (b. 1969) lives and works in New York. Selected museum exhibitions and public art installations include Rites of Spring, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton (2019—2021); Pac-Lab and Sisyphus, Sculpture Park at Art Omi, Ghent, New York (2020); Will Ryman: La Villette, Parc de La Villette, Paris (2018); Cadillac, College for Creative Studies, Detroit (2017); Bird, Flatiron Plaza, New York (2013); Desublimation of the Rose, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables (2011); Rose, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (2011); The Roses, Park Avenue, New York (2011); and Greater New York, MoMa P.S. 1, New York (2005). Solo exhibitions at CHART include New York, New York (2022) and Dinner III (2020); solo shows at Kasmin Gallery include Two Rooms (2015) and America (2013). Will Ryman’s work is in the collections of numerous museums and sculpture gardens worldwide including The New Orleans Museum of Art; The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, East Lansing; Frist Center for Visual Arts, Nashville; The National Academy of Design, New York; The Saatchi Gallery, London; The Verbier Foundation, Switzerland; 21c Museum Foundation, Louisville; and The Margulies Collection, Miami.
Will Ryman is represented by CHART, New York, NY.