Artist Spotlight: Ryan Agnew
Ryan Agnew is an artist whose sincere investment in the present reflects itself in the art he produces, the questions he raises and the community he fosters with others. Born 1978 in Alexandria, Virginia, Agnew exhibits regularly and has been the recipient of several awards including a fellowship for emerging artists from The Ohio State University’s Arts Initiative in 2010 and an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in 2009. During the summer of 2010, he completed a residency with the Nonstop Institute in Yellow Springs, Ohio; the work he developed during this period reflects his interest in familial oral histories and their relationship to local stories and cycles in nature. Since 2009 Agnew has collaborated with others to run It Looks Like It’s Open, a shared studio space in Clintonville and a testing ground for experimental projects and events. Agnew’s oil and watercolor paintings use color and pattern to construct form and often represent light in the natural landscape. These paintings incorporate soft details and quiet restraint, inviting viewers to draw closer, to slow down, look deeply and connect to the world around us. Agnew also currently works with the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Ready to Read Corps and is father of twins, Tree and Lake.