Will Ryman

The first monograph on an artist whose theatrical sculptures elevate the grit and absurdity of everyday life into monumental, thought-provoking installations.

Will Ryman was destined to become an artist—born and raised in New York City into a revered art family (his father is the late Robert Ryman), the city in all its hard-scrabble beauty shaped him from a young age. Best known for sculptures and installations that fuse satire, spectacle, and a distinctly urban sensibility, Ryman trained as a playwright before turning to sculpture. In his work, he transforms overlooked details of daily life—roses and pigeons, trash bins and candy wrappers—into larger-than-life forms that are humorous, unsettling, and unexpectedly poignant.

His signature monumentally scaled rose sculptures have been exhibited as public art projects from New York City to Taipei. His work is held in prominent public collections, including The Broad, 21C Museum Foundation, and the Margulies Collection, as well as regional institutions such as the Farnsworth Museum.

Ryman’s theatrical vignettes of street life brim with wit while engaging themes of consumerism, labor, mortality, and the fragile beauty that persists amid urban disorder. This special volume features three different paper stocks and is bound in a silver, highly reflective foil paper that mirrors the materials the artist incorporates into his work.