Joan Ryan, USA                 

1.Struggling Captive, 2000 pastel 39x33 in., US$ 8,000.00   2.Right Angel, 2000 pastel 40x24 in., US$ 5,000.00   3.I Want To Speak, 2004 pastel 38x31 in., US$ 4,000.00   4.Holding Pattern, 2004 pastel 38x32 in., US$ 4,000.00 5.The Bride, 2004 oil on canvas 28x18 in., US$ 4,000.00   6.Myth, 2002 pastel 30x21 in., US$ 4,000.00   7.The Watch, 2002 oil on canvas 30x21 in., US$ 3,000.00
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My work focuses on a re-examination of our cultural myths of identity. Much of my subject matter derives from magazine images and advertisements from the 1950's and 1960's. Many of the images are easily recognizable American icons. Nostalgic images or symbols of innocence, presented in conjunction of with props of modern day, create series juxtaposition. This apposition aims to confront our culture's selective memory, while asking the viewer to relinquish the mythologies of our past and to question the façade that masks the twenty-first century.


Nostalgia is an important part of the American legacy. The re-representation of historically familiar images challenges and criticizes traditional stereotypes of human identity. By examining images of identity through our cultural myths, I work to bring into question the belief system through which society sees the world. In these works, I question our manufactured desire for a fictitious past while revealing the mystery of our complex cultural identity.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013 RUINLUST, Soho 20 Gallery, Chelsea NY
2012 Grant Recipients Exhibition Provincetown Museum and Art Ass. Provincetown MA
2011 Open Studio, DADA Post, Berlin, Germany
2010 What We forgot To Remember, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2010 Truth, Orseman Gallery, Smith College, Brown Fine Art Center, Northampton, MA
2008 Rent Drawings Johnson Gallery, Beverly Farms, MA
2007 King, Cambridge Multicultural Center, Cambridge, MA
2004 Identity and the Human Figure, APE Gallery, Northampton, MA<
2003 Reflections of Gender, Porter Street Gallery, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA
2002 Drawings 2002, Sacramento Street Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2002 Recent Drawings, Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA
1994 Recent Drawings, Soho 20 Invitational Space, New York, NY
1994 Renovare, Bradford College, Bradford, MA
1989 Transitory Images and Reflections, Nancy Lincoln Gallery, Chestnut Hill, MA

SELECTED NATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
2013 Cock and Bull, Kit Schulte Gallery, Berlin Germany
2013 4th Annual Contemporary Drawing, University of North Carolina ~ Juror: Susan Hauptman
2011 7th Annual Human Rights Exhibition, South Texas College
2011 Global Perspectives, Worcester State College
2011 “A Women’s Work Is Never Done” A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn NY ~ Juror: Susann Altman
2010“…And Sweeps Me Away” A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn NY ~ Juror: Barbara O’Brien
2009 “Does Gender Matter” Art Institute of Boston ~ Juror: Barbara O’Brien
2009 Contemporary Humanism A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn NY ~ Juror: Ricio Aranda-Alvarades
2009 “Blue” Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge MA ~ Juror: Jen Mergel, Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
2008 “A Politic 2008” Gallery XIV, Boston, MA
2008 “Structured Incidents” National Members Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY ~ Juror: Charlotta Kiotik
2008 27th Annual Faber Birren National Color Award, Stamford Art Association ~ Juror: Gary Carrion-Murayari, Assistant Curator/Whitney Museum, New York, NY
2007 Made Out Of The Ordinary, A.I.R. Gallery, National Gallery Artist, New York, NY
2006 Connections ~ Juror: Donald Kuspit, New Jersey Center For Visual Arts, Montclair, NJ
2006 Vital Voices, Brandeis University, Waltham MA ~ Juror: Raphaela Platow, Curator, Rose Art Museum
2005 Close To Home, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven CT ~ Juror: Jacquelyn Days, Chief Curator of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
2004 STAC 29th Annual Juried Exhibition, St. James, New York ~ Juror: Donald Kuspit
2004 27th Annual Art on Paper ~ Juror: Linda Simmons, Curator, Print and Drawings, Corcoran Museum, Washington, DC
2003 Figurative Works 02î Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, FL ~ Juror: Olga Viso, Curator, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC
1999 Convergence, Wilmington Arts Center, Wilmington, VT ~ Juror: Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, Senior Curator, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
1998 Wood Memorial Biennial, South Windsor, CT ~ Juror: Susan Cross, Curator, Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
1990 Recent American Works on Paper, Mixed Media on Paper, Smithsonian Institute Traveling Services (SITES), Washington, DC ~ Juror: Ned Rifkin

NATIONAL & REGIONAL GRANTS/AWARDS
2013 A.I.R. Trust Grant, Berkshire Taconic Foundation<
2013 40th Anniversary Invitational First Place, Soho 20 ~ Juror: Paddy Johnson
2013 Northampton Arts Council, Mural Restoration Grant, Northampton MA<
2011 Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed National Grant, PAAM ~ Jurors: William Stover, Milena Kalinovska, Patricia Hickson
2008 National Juried Exhibition, Second Place, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA ~ Juror: Jen Mergel
2005 Puffin Foundation Grant
2005 George Sugarman Foundation Grant
2004 Outstanding Teaching Award, Lesley University, Boston, MA
2002 Faculty Development Grant, Lesley University, Boston, MA
2001 Professional Development Grant, Lesley University, Boston, MA
2000 Who’s Who in American Universities, Marquis 21st Edition
1999 Mural Grant, Governor’s Council on Sports and Fitness, Boston MA
1998 Arts Lottery Grant, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Lexington, MA
1998 Purchase Award, Lexington Council for the Arts, Lexington, MA

AFFILIATIONS
2011-Soho 20, New York, New York
2013
2006-A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY
present
2008-Feminist Art Bank, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn NY
2011
Gallery Galatea, Boston, MA
Saint Botolph Club, Boston, MA
The Drawing Center, New York, NY
The Drawing Project, Boston, MA
Woman’s Caucus for Art, Boston Chapter
Associate Professor of Drawing, The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, Boston, MA

RESIDENCIES
2011 Dada Post, Berlin, Germany
2010 Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
2009 Sodus Art Residency, Sodus, New York
2008 Burren College, Artist in Residence, Ballyvaughan, Ireland
2005 Byrdcliffe Art Center, Woodstock, NY
2004 Byrdcliffe Art Center, Woodstock, NY
2002 Contemporary Artist Center, North Adams, MA
1996 Contemporary Artist Center, Residency, North Adams, MA
1999
1993 The Tyrone Guthrie Center, August Residency, County Monaghan, Ireland
1993 Cummington Community for Art, July/August Residency, Cummington, MA

PUBLICATIONS
2013 Studio Visit 32 edition, Open Studio Press
2012 Studio Visit, 31 edition, Open Studio Press
Figure Drawing by Nathan Goldstein, 7th edition, Prentice Hall
Blaze: Discourse on Art, Women and Feminism, “The Cow Culture: Dilemmas in Public Art”, Cambridge Scholars Publishing
“Public Memory”, National Conference, Women’s Caucus for Art, Presenter
“The Mind’s Eye”, The Liberal Arts Journal, MCLA
Northampton Gazette
Cambridge Chronicle
Bradford College, Visiting Artist
Artis Spectrum
Boston Globe
Hampshire Gazette

COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art, Artist Files Archives, NYC
DeCordova Museum, Corporate Collection, Boston
Fleet Bank, Boston, MA
Hampshire Regional YWCA, Springfield, MA
Town of Arlington, MA