RYAN MCGINNESS (B. 1972)
Surface & Symbol (Valued at $3,250)
signed, titled, numbered and dated '"Surface & Symbol" Ryan McGinness 2008 5/10' (on the reverse)
porcelain-baked enamel on steel
diameter: 24 in. (61 cm.)
depth: 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.)
Executed in 2008. This work is number five from an edition of ten plus two artist's proofs.

Known for explosively recontextualizing often familiar iconography, Ryan McGinness makes kaleidoscopic, sprawling compositions that weave between abstraction and contemporary visual culture. A single, densely packed canvas is likely to incorporate flora, fauna, chandeliers, and family crests, as well as imagery from bathroom and street signs, all layered with a whirlwind of tightly rendered abstract patterns and motifs. Growing up in Virginia Beach, McGinness was inspired by the design elements of skate and surf culture, and his work takes this aesthetic and builds on it in an opulent and quasi-Rococo manner. McGinness's works are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Saatchi Collection in London, the Taguchi Art Collection in Japan, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.