Draft:Paul J. Ryan

Paul J. Ryan (born 1968) is a British artist. Their work has sought to reposition sketchbooks in the hierarchies of art, through a drawing practice and American semiotics.

Notable works in public collections include:


 * Concentrate (2001), in this work the artist ponders our inability to give our attention to The Holocaust. It is held in The Imperial War Museum, and discussed in Claire Brenard's book Visions of War. She writes: 'Ryan used patterns of dots and dashes to painstakingly imitate the effects of quick pencil marks. The title can be taken as an instruction to both viewer and artist - it is also a sobering reminder of the historic function of the building and watchtowers depicted. His work aims to maintain some of the spontaneity and vitality of his original sketchbook drawings, by faithfully recreating them as much larger replicas. This technique forces the artist to significantly slow down the drawing process, turning his practice into a much more contemplative endeavour. Ryan visited Auschwitz-Berkenau [...] making many quick drawings in small A6-sized sketchbooks. When he returned home he began working on Concentrate (2001), a reconstruction of one of his sketches. The drawing won a Jerwood Prize for its intellectual depth, derived from the meditative nature of its execution.'
 * Dig (2000) was acquired by the British Museum Prints and Drawings Department.


 * In 2007 several works were commissioned by Tate Liverpool for the city's 800th anniversary, including: photographs of the city centre showing post-war reconstruction in response to Stewart Bale's 1944 work; an LGBTQIA+ guided walk for homotopia; and Epstein's Liverpool with Jeremy Deller'.  These are reproduced and discussed in Christoph Grunenberg and Robert Knifton's book Centre of The Creative Universe.
 * Mirror Mirror was a video performance collaboration with Daniel Baker for The Roma Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2011.

Curatorial projects include What the Folk Say at Compton Verney, where contemporary artists including Sonia Boyce and Mike Nelson combined folk and fine art.

His 2009 PhD thesis examined the aesthetics of C. S. Peirce by considering how sketchbooks convey their meaning. His archive is held at Bishopsgate Institute.