RYAN MCGINNESS
v 511 West 22nd Street New York NY 10011 515 West 22nd Street New York NY 10011 525 West 22nd Street New York NY 10011 520 West 21st Street New York NY 10011 RYAN MCGINNESS
LEAVING FOR TOMORROW
By Julie BaumgardnerBy now, the icons of Ryan McGinness are immediately recognizable—or at least they should be. They are puns poking at the ubiquity of our consumer world. They look familiar at first, but then the joke, quip, or smirk sets in. Take his “Tied Hamsa Hand”—the giving hand still bound by rules and regulation—or “Pistol Power Drill.” These icons, o en pictograms, are the signature of McGinness’s practice. They have kept the downtown New York artist ever in the public eye, whether at gallery exhibitions (e.g., with Miles McEnery) or experiential activations with public spaces (like The Standard Hotels) or even commercial collaborations with Uniqlo and Supreme. McGinness counts his fashion work as fun, but his “studio has always been a research and development lab, as opposed to a factory for production,” he says.
Still, McGinness runs his studio with an efficiency and precision that could challenge even the most streamlined production lines. Despite his omnipresence in the rarified art market, as well as in everyday street culture, McGinness is in a moment of flux. It may not seem like it from the outside; his affairs remain steady and constant. Yet, McGinness is in the midst of what may prove to be the most impactful shi in his career and output: He is without a studio.
5
The Centre Street studio in New York’s Chinatown was not only the place and space where, for over two decades, McGinness drew, painted, cra ed, fabricated, invented, imagined and hosted parties (even 50 in one year). It was, for twenty-five years, his creative home. The block-long lo became synonymous with McGinness and contributed to his downtown status. While nothing lasts forever, particularly in New York, an artist without a studio is nonetheless in a daunting position.
It should be made clear that McGinness wasn’t unceremoniously evicted with time only to grab the essentials. The landlords were pals who understood the upheaval McGinness would be experiencing and gave the artist a year “to plan ahead of time,” he says. So McGinness got to work. “I wanted to crank out paintings and to explore where I was at the time,” he says. That led him to experiment with smaller sizes—24 by 18 inches to be exact—that were “harkening back to overlapping many pictorial moments.” He was painting the familiar while processing the rupture. When McGinness works, “I’ve always felt I’m removed from myself and in a state of flow, like I’m along for the ride,” he says. That “may be why I’m so enamored with the process, because it’s a mystery to me, and I’m watching myself make my work or I’m watching someone make work.”
6
Ryan McGinness’s Studio, New York, NY
Perhaps that’s why McGinness’s works veer toward the big picture and the cerebral. The artist, in fact, studied psychology while he was ge ing his Bachelor of Fine Arts, and he regularly returns to those intellectual underpinnings. The paintings he made during his last days in the studio “are from what I call the Mindscapes, which are really how the mind works, which is to say they’re random-access memories and they’re all over the place.” For an artist whose external world is so orderly, it’s no wonder these paintings emerged from an out-of-body experience. McGinness isn’t a fan of mess.
But the mess of the mind is also part of the mystery of the human condition, which is central to McGinness’s motivation as an artist. “That’s what drives me and my work,” he says. “Knowing yourself and knowing this idea of what it means to become self-actualized was on my radar from a young age. So what’s the answer to that question? The consequence of always wanting to know yourself is that you’re never gonna know.” Each painting, each print, each drawing, McGinness believes, is an opportunity and inquiry into the self, “extensions of my identity.” But the works are never about him; in fact, he feels removed from their production. Albrecht Dürer, giggling from grave! But that leaves a question: How is anyone to know an artist if artists don’t know themselves?
Humans leave an imprint of their activities on the earth, on each other, on any surface. That’s particularly the case with artists, who leave literal objects for people to see and engage with. So it’s not too big of a leap to suggest that the way to know artists is to catalog and track their work. Maybe the clue to who artists really are lies within the vernacular they create.
Who artists are as creators is o en found through their repeated motions, gestures, actions, and symbols—identifiers of instincts they simply can’t shake, things that continue to burst out whether they can help it or not. How o en do we hear or read about artists who can’t stop drawing, don’t like being away from their studio too long, or as children simply couldn’t stop drawing or making things. That innate impulse is a major part of who someone is.
7
Drawing is McGinness’s relentless impulse. “Everyone in our family knows that if there’s a fire here, you grab the sketchbooks,” he half-jokes. “Those are the most valuable because that’s where all the ideas are.” The notebooks of drawings contain all the ideas and roadmaps of his practice. “Everything starts and is born out of my sketchbooks; all sketchbooks for about 30 years are the same size and format,” he says. They are filled with the signs and symbols of his lexicon, the ones so famously associated with McGinness. “I learned how to draw icons and pictograms, but with a ruling pen on illustration board. That’s how I learned how to draw.” His signs and symbols aren’t just the obsessive marks of an artistic mind, but rather, an alphabet of his practice.
8
Ryan McGinness, Sketch from the artist’s journal, 2022
It’s common wisdom that to move forward, it is o en necessary to go back to basics. McGinness’s basics are his foundational vocabulary, “the discernible elements, units of meaning.” So, the exhibition, WYSIWYG (an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get”) brings together five large-scale paintings, including McGinness’s most licensed work, The Lazy Logic of Ignava Ratio, with the small-scale works he produced in his last days at the Chinatown studio. All deploy the same language. “It’s an exhibition of, for lack of a be er term, typical paintings,” McGinness says humbly. In context, however, it’s really a full-circle arc.
WYSIWYG is a time-capsule as much as a dictionary, but it is also a marker of a new chapter for Ryan McGinness. When anyone, especially an artist, is secure in the fundamentals, there is space for evolution. Mark our words: Dive deep into these works now to decode what’s soon to come.
Julie Baumgardner9
The Transparent Reflection of Reality, 2007
10
Acrylic on linen 96 x 96 inches 243.8 x 243.8 cm
12
Only a Thief Thinks Everybody Steals, 2008
Acrylic on canvas
96 x 143 1⁄4 inches
243.8 x 365.8 cm
14
The Lazy Logic of Ignava Ratio, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
96 x 144 1⁄2 inches
243.8 x 367 cm
16
The Formality of Things Actually Occurring, 2013
Acrylic on canvas 72 x 72 inches
182.9 x 182.9 cm
18
A Willing Victim, 2015
Acrylic on canvas
72 x 72 inches
182.9 x 182.9 cm
20
Condition Report, 2022
Acrylic on wood
24 x 18 inches
61 x 45.7 cm
22
Nobody Likes a Tourist, 2022
Acrylic on wood 24 x 18 inches 61 x 45.7 cm
24
Recreational Use, 2022
Acrylic on wood 24 x 18 inches
61 x 45.7 cm
26
Slow Burn, 2022
Acrylic on wood 24 x 18 inches
61 x 45.7 cm
28
Sorry for the Delay, 2022
Acrylic on wood 24 x 18 inches 61 x 45.7 cm
30
Stupid on Stilts, 2022
Acrylic on wood 24 x 18 inches 61 x 45.7 cm
32
That Time, 2022
Acrylic on wood 24 x 18 inches
61 x 45.7 cm
34
The Honey Trap, 2022
Acrylic on wood 24 x 18 inches 61 x 45.7 cm
36
Viewer Male, 2022
Acrylic on wood 24 x 18 inches
61 x 45.7 cm
38
Whisper Listing, 2022
Acrylic on wood 24 x 18 inches 61 x 45.7 cm
RYAN MCGINNISS
Born in Virginia Beach, VA in 1972
Lives and works in New York, NY
EDUCATION
1994
BFA, Carnegie Mellon University, Pi sburgh, PA
1990-94
Curatorial Assistant, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pi sburgh, PA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
“WYSIWYG,” Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY
2023
“Drawings,” Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA “A New System for Control,” C O U N T Y Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
2022
“New Narratives,” Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY “kra works,” Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO
2020
“Pedaling in Sauerkraut,” Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA “Mindscapes,” Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY
2019
“Warhol Flower Icons,” Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO “Mother & Child,” Harper’s Books, East Hampton, NY
2018
“Warhol Flower Icons,” AISHONANZUKA, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
“Warhol Flower Icons,” EchoOne Nanzuka, Bangkok, Thailand
2017
“Studio Views,” Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI “Ocular Evidence,” Quint Gallery, San Diego, CA
2016
“#metadata,” Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015
“Studio Visit,” Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA
2014
“Community Identity Stability,” Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA
“Figure Drawings,” Pace Prints, New York, NY
“Everything Is Everywhere,” Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
“Art History Is Not Linear (Boijmans),”Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2013
“Women and Mindscapes,” Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
2012
“Women: New (Re)Presentations,” Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA
“Women: Sun-Stained Symbols,” Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, East Hampton, NY
“Units of Meaning,” Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO
“Women: Sketches & Solutions,” Gering & López Gallery, New York, NY
“Geometric Primitives,” Pace Primitive, New York, NY
2011
“Trophies,” Prism Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Works on Paper,” Country Club, Los Angeles, CA
“Recent Paintings,” Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Color Oblicuo,” Espai Cultural Caja Madrid, Barcelona, Spain
“Black Holes,” Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, NY
2010
“New Tondos,” Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
“Studio Franchise,” La Casa Encendida Museum, Madrid, Spain
2009
“Ryan McGinness: Works.,” Deitch Projects, New York, NY
“Mindscapes & Black Holes,” Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO
41
2008
“Ryan McGinness: Aesthetic Comfort,” Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
“A Shadow Feeling of Loss,” Paolo Curti/Annamaria Gambuzzi and Co., Milan, Italy
“Have You Seen Him?,” MoMA PS1, New York, NY
2007
“Varied Editions,” Pace Prints, New York, NY
“A Rich Fantasy Life,” Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA
2006
“Never Odd Or Even,” Galeria Moriarty, Madrid, Spain
“Never Odd Or Even,”Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
“Never Odd Or Even,” 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
“Installationview,” Deitch Projects, New York, NY
“The Burden of Keeping it Real,” André Simoens Gallery, KnokkeZoute, Belgium
“Pain-Free Ki ens,” Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA
2004
“Multiverse,” Galerie du jour agnès b., Paris, France
“Living Signs,” Galería Moriarty, Madrid, Spain
2003
“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 Ma er, New York, NY
“Dream Garden” (with Julia Chiang), Deitch Projects, New York, NY
2001
“Evolution Is the Theory of Everything,” Parco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
“Sign Age,” Galerie de Miguel, Munich, Germany
“Pieceofmind,” Cole e, Paris, France
2000
“Shtick,” Houston Gallery, Sea le, WA
“Luxurygood,” Alife, New York, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
“So Many Songs We Have Yet To Play: Gi s of Donna MacMillan,” Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
2021
“Dust to Dust.,” The Museum Of_, Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA
“Abstraction/Simulation,” El Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Aínsa-Sobrarbe, Huesca, Spain
2020
“Really.,” (curated by Inka Essenhigh & Ryan McGinness), Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY
“Artists for New York,” Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY
2018
“Grafik” (curated by Ryan McGinness), Harper’s Books, East Hampton, NY.
“Heads Roll” (curated by Paul Morrison), Graves Gallery, Sheffield, United Kingdom
“Tick-Tock:Time in ContemporaryArt,” Lehman College Art Gallery, NewYork, NY
2017
“Drawing: The Beginning of Everything,” Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY
2016
“Library Street Collective Presents,” Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI
2015
“A Perspective on Agnès B.’s Collection,” Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, Lille, France
42
2014
“Beauty Reigns: A Baroque Sensibility in Recent Painting,” McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX; traveled to the Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH
2012
“Factory Direct,” The Andy Warhol Museum, Pi sburgh, PA
“Modern and Contemporary Art from Private Collections,” Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
2011
“Masters of Reality,” Gering & López Gallery, New York, NY
“Nose Job” (curated by Carlo McCormick), Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, NY
“Litos Grafera,” Museum of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway; traveled to Art Centre Silkeborg Bad, Silkeborg, Denmark
2010
“Contemporary Magic” (curated by Stacy Engman), National Arts Club, New York, NY
2008
“Royal Academy Illustrated: A Selection from the 240th Summer Exhibition,” Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom
2007
“Monumental Drawings,” Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, San Antonio, TX
2006
“Graphic Content,” Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
“Art on Paper 2006,” Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
“The World Is Round,” Public Art Fund, MetroTech, Brooklyn, NY
“USA Today: New American Art from the Saatchi Collection,” Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom
“Spank the Monkey,” Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom
“Since 2000: Printmaking Now,” The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
“The Garden Party,” Deitch Projects, New York, NY
2005
“Greater New York 2005,” MoMA PS1, New York, NY
2004
“Will Boys Be Boys? Questioning Adolescent Masculinity in Contemporary Art” (organized by Independent Curators International, curated by Shamim M. Momin), Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN; traveled to the Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, FL; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO; and Salina Art Center, Salina, KS
“The Dreamland Artists Club” (presented by Creative Time), Coney Island, New York, NY
“Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture” (curated by Aaron Rose and Christian Strike), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA and Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH; traveled to La Casa Encendida Museum, Madrid, Spain; Arhus Kunstbygning, Aarhus, Denmark; Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland; Le Tri Postal, Lille, France; Palazzo dell’Arte, Milan, Italy; USF Contemporary Art Museum,Tampa, FL; Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD; and Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
“La Collection d’Art Contemporain d’Agnès B.,” Les Aba oirs Musée, Toulouse, France
“Earthly Delights” (curated by Lisa Tung), Sandra and David Bakalar Gallery, Massachuse s College of Art, Boston, MA
2003
“A New New York Scene,” Galerie du Jour, Paris, France
“Lead Poisoning,” New Image Art, Los Angeles, CA
“North StarVideo Screening,” MoriArt Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2002
“SK8 on The Wall,” Gallery Rocket, Tokyo, Japan
“Session The Bowl,” Deitch Projects, New York, NY
2001
“Spunky,” Exit Art, New York, NY
2000
“Critic as Grist” (curated by Michael Portnoy), White Box, New York, NY
“Insights: Interior Spaces in Contemporary Art,” Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, Stamford, CT
43
SELECT COLLECTIONS
AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Amorepacific Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Bank of America, New York, NY
Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Cora International, New York, NY
Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Gilberto and Rosa Sandre o Collection, Milan, Italy
Hallmark Art Collection, Kansas City, MO
JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, New York, NY
Judy & Rob Mann Collection, New York, NY
Malingue Collection, Paris, France
Ma hew and Iris Strauss Family Foundation, San Diego, CA
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Michael Krichman and Carmen Cuenca Collection, San Diego, CA
MTV Networks, New York, NY
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León, Spain
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, CA
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Neuberger Berman Collection, New York, NY
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, San Francisco, CA
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Peter Norton Family Foundation, Santa Monica, CA
Phillip Schrager Collection of Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH
Saastamoinen Foundation, EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland
Saatchi Collection, London, United Kingdom
Schwab Family Collection, San Francisco, CA
Taguchi Art Collection,Tokyo, Japan
UBS Art Collection, New York, NY
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
44
Published on the occasion of the exhibition
RYAN MCGINNISS
WYSIWYG
28 March – 11 May 2024
Miles McEnery Gallery
520 West 21st Street New York NY 10011
tel +1 212 445 0051
www.milesmcenery.com
Publication © 2024 Miles McEnery Gallery
All rights reserved
Essay © 2024 Julie Baumgardner
Publications and Archival Associate
Julia Schlank, New York, NY
Photography by Dan Bradica, New York, NY
Christopher Burke Studios, New York, NY
Farzad Owrang, New York, NY
Talisman Brolin, New York, NY
Catalogue layout by Spevack Loeb, New York, NY
ISBN: 979-8-3507-2875-0
Cover: Only a Thief Thinks Everybody Steals, 2008 (detail)
