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ryan mcginness

Ryan McGinness is a contemporary American artist working in a multidisciplinary practice of painting, sculpture, and installation. Unified by a psychedelic, graphic aesthetic, McGinness’ work derives inspiration from skateboard culture and surf decals to explore how contemporary iconography can communicate personal meaning. “Nothing inherently has meaning,” he once said. “Meaning is projected and reflected which gives the illusion that things ‘have’ meaning. In that sense, meaning is like color.” Often featuring commercial logos, signs, and kaleidoscopic patterns, his work is characterized by its uniform smoothness and mechanical application of color. Born on January 9, 1972 in Virginia Beach, VA, McGinness went on to study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. While still in school, he interned as a curatorial assistant at the Andy Warhol Museum, where he further developed an appreciation for Pop Art and graphic design. Today, McGinness’ work can be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, and the Cincinnati Art Museum, among others. The artist lives and works in New York, NY.