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Artist Ryan McGinness

ryanmcginnis.com

Artist Ryan McGinness spent his teen years surfing, riding skateboards and making art in Virginia Beach. 

Today, his brightly colored works - which incorporate strong graphics, signs and logos from popular culture, hang in museums around the world.  He’s based in Manhattan, but next month he comes back to share his ideas and techniques with kids from his hometown.

At 42, Ryan McGinness is an inspiration to surfer dudes everywhere - a guy who grew up at the beach, went to art school, served as an apprentice to Andy Warhol and now shows and sells his work around the world.  Jeffrey Allison is manager of statewide programs and exhibitions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

“Ryan grew up as a sort of free spirit. He was a surfer, a skateboarder, rode bicycles everywhere, hung out with his friends. One of the best parts of the exhibition is that his mother kept the art works that he made when he was in first grade on, and so you can see how he starts as a young artist and at that age he immediately starts incorporating his day to day culture.”

Credit David Stover/VMFA
Studio Visit, 2014, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

On March 11th, he’ll return to Virginia Beach to speak about his work as part of a show at theVirginia Museum of Contemporary Art.  The exhibit features a giant screen that takes visitors into the workspace.

“You’re listening to the music he’s listening to.  You his assistants handing him the paints and the screens and washing them in the background, and how it’s continuous -- almost like a ballet!  And then you turn around and there’s the original work of art, and so you really get that incredible feeling of an artist at work.”

McGinness routinely sells paintings, sculptures and other works for in excess of $20,000 - but for those on a limited budget, original T-shirts will be available in the gift shop. 
 

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