Veronica Ryan
2022 Whitney Biennial
OBE at Queens Birthday Honors

Portrait of Veronica Ryan with her exhibition, Along a Spectrum, Spike Island, Bristol (2021) Photograph by Max McClure. Copyright Veronica Ryan, Courtesy Spike Island Bristol, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Veronica Ryan has been chosen to participate in the forthcoming Whitney Biennial 2022.

Titled “Quiet as It’s Kept,” after a colloquialism inspired by novelist Toni Morrison, jazz drummer Max Roach, and artist David Hammons, all of whom have invoked it in their works, the event will feature the work of a diverse array of sixty-three artists and collectives in various stages of their careers. The Biennial will run from April 6 through September 5, with select programs continuing through October 23; it is being co-organized by Whitney curators David Breslin and Adrienne Edwards.

Ryan’s inclusion follows ‘Along a Spectrum’, a major exhibition at Spike Island, Bristol (2021), and the recent unveiling of Custard Apple (Annonaceae), Breadfruit (Moraceae) and Soursop (Annonaceae) (2021) in Hackney, London, the UK’s first permanent public sculptures to celebrate and honour the Windrush Generations.

– Whitney Museum of American Art

Veronica Ryan OBE – made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Montserrat-born British sculptor Veronica Ryan was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty for her service to the arts.

Veronica Ryan

Born in 1956 in Plymouth, Montserrat and raised in England, Veronica Ryan creates meticulously handcrafted work using a wide range of materials, including bronze, plaster, marble, textile and found objects.
Her sculptures and installations examine environmental concerns, personal narratives and memories, as well as the wider psychological implications of history, trauma and recovery.
Her meticulously handcrafted works – while quiet and elusive – also contain a capacity for provoking an eruptive and disquieting internal dialogue. Composed of materials that reference her Afro-Caribbean heritage, the pieces examine the psychology and semantics of perception, as well as allude to notions of home, memory and loss.

– Text courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery, NYC