Born in 1976 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, USA
New York-based artist Matthew Ronay was born in 1976 in Louisville, Kentucky, and studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art before earning his Masters in Fine Arts from Yale University in 2000. Ronay creates hybrid forms that exist between a primordial and futuristic state, which seek to explore ritualistic habits and the relationship between human bodies and the world we inhabit. His hand-crafted, colorful configurations embody our corporeal struggle, reminding us of the power of objects beyond material culture and mass production. Drawing on traditions of folk and pre-avant-garde art, as well as surrealism, mythology, and psychedelia, Ronay has developed a distinct artistic style that draws viewers in with its playfulness and then unveils a deeper, more multidimensional reality.
Ronay has exhibited at institutions including Kunsthalle Lingen, Germany; University of Louisville, Kentucky; Artspace, San Antonio, Texas; Serpentine Gallery, London; Sculpture Center, New York; Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, New York; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, Kentucky; and Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London. Ronay participated in the 2013 Lyon Biennale, curated by Gunnar Kvaran, and the 2004 Whitney Biennial. In 2016, his work was the subject of solo-presentations at the Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, Texas and the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida. In 2022, his work was the subject of a solo exhibition at the the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas.
education
2000
- MFA Yale University
1998
- BFA Maryland Institute College of Art
solo shows
2023
- Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO (Forthcoming)
- The Tombs Are Upset, Perrotin Hong Kong
2022
- A Canker in the Leaf, Perrotin Seoul Samcheong, South Korea
- The Crack, the Swell, an Earth, an Ode, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas
2021
- Ligatures, Casey Kaplan, New York, NY
2020
- Sending and Receiving, Perrotin, Shanghai, China
2019
- Polypastoraline, Nils Staerk, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Betrayals of and by the body, Casey Kaplan, New York, NY
2018
- Ramus, Perrotin, Paris, France
2017
- SURDS, Marc Foxx Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016
- Matthew Ronay, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, TX
- Matthew Ronay – Dock, Berth, Antenna, Markus Lüttgen, Cologne, Germany
- Matthew Ronay: When Two Are In One, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL
2015
- In and Out and In and Out, Again, Nils Stærk, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Tony Cox & Matthew Ronay: Outer Loop, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, NY
2014
- Organ/Organelle, Marc Foxx, Los Angeles, CA
- Wavelength, Andrea Rosen Gallery 2, New York, NY
- The Door is Open, Kunsthalle Lingen, Lingen, Germany
2013
- Selected Works: 2007 – 2010, University of Louisville's Hite Art Institute, Louisville, KY
- Repeat the Sounding, Lüettgenmeijer, Berlin, Germany
- Mounting toward Zenith / Descending and Disappearing, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY
2012
- It Comes in Waves, Nils Staerk, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Between the Worlds, La Conservera, Murcia, Spain
2011
- Between the Worlds, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY
2010
- Between the Worlds, ArtPace, curated by Matthew Drutt, San Antonio, TX
2009
- is the shadow, Marc Foxx, Los Angeles, CA
2008
- Mounting Toward Zenith / Descending and Disappearing, Luettgenmeijer, Berlin, Germany
- Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY
2006
- Marc Foxx, West Gallery – Project Room, Los Angeles, CA
- Distractions From War, Nils Staerk, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Goin’ Down, Down, Down, Parasol Unit, London, United Kingdom
- Oh My God What Are We Gonna Do?!, Vacio 9, Madrid, Spain
2005
- It’s An Uprising!, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY
- Shine the Light, Marc Foxx, Los Angeles, CA
- Love Will Find A Way, REC. / Esther Schipper, Berlin, Germany
2004
- A Possible New Order of Reconsiderings, presented by Nils Staerk Contemporary Art, Statements - Art 35, Basel, Switzerland
2002
- Catarina Leitão & Matthew Ronay; Tamed Nature & Outlaw Biker Gang, Andrea Rosen, New York, NY
- Garden Party and Four Conversations with Slippage, Nils Staerk, Copenhagen, Denmark
2001
- Matthew Ronay, Marc Foxx, Los Angeles, CA
group shows
2023
- A Tie to All the Earth, curated by Evonne Jiawei Yuan, Teagan Art Space, Beijing, China
- Synch, Kate Werble Gallery, New York, NY
2022
- Metafiguration, Tops Gallery, Memphis, TN
- Now I am a lake, Public Gallery, London
- Staging, Club Rhubarb, Catskill Mountain Region, NY
2021
- La Boîte-en-Valise, Office Baroque, Antwerp
- ReGroup Show, Miguel Abreu, New York
- Romancing the Surface, GRIMM, Amsterdam
- The Going Away Present, Kristina Kite, Los Angeles
2020
- The Essential Goods Show, Fisher Parrish, Brooklyn, NY
2019
- Museum of Modern Art and Western Antiquities, Section II Department of Carving and Modeling: Form and Volume, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal
- Homo Faber: Craft in Contemporary Sculpture, Asian Cultural Center, Gwangju, South Korea
- America Will Be! Surveying the Contemporary Landscape, Dallas Museum of Art, TX
- Axxon N: A collective commentary on David Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE, Essex Flowers, NY
- The Beyond: Georgia O’Keeffe and Contemporary Art, New Britain Museum of American Art, CT
- We Contain Multitudes, Galerie Isa, Mumbai
2018
- The Cruelest Month, Mother Gallery, Beacon, NY
- The Beyond: Georgia O’Keefe and Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, AR; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
2017
- 99 Cents or Less, MOCAD, Detroit, MI
- Small Sculpture, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL
- Hans Bellmer, Sascha Braunig, Matthew Ronay, Office Baroque, Brussels, Belgium
- We’ll turn Manhattan into an island of joy, Markus Lüttgen, Cologne, Germany
2016
- Shroom Show, organized by Nicholas Moenich, helper, Brooklyn, NY
- The Natural Flow of Things, curated by Tania Pardo, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain
- Empirical Intuitive Absorption, organized by Matthew Ronay, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY
- World Made By Hand, Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
- The Lamp Show, 99¢ Plus Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2015
- SMALL(ish), MARX FOXX, Los Angeles, CA
- Mirror Mirror, Kate Werble Gallery, New York, NY
- J’adore, Kunsthalle Lingen, Lingen, Germany
- Between Two Worlds, Jacob Lewis Gallery, New York, NY
- Quattro Stagioni, Fürstenberg Zeitgenössisch, Donaueschingen, Germany
2014
- Spectral Haze, organized by James Case-Leal, Blackston Gallery, New York, NY
- Group Sculpture Exhibition, MARC FOXX, Los Angeles, CA
2013
- Biennale de Lyon, curated by Gunnar Kvaran, Lyon, France
- The Stairs, Algus Greenspon, New York, NY
2012
- Cleopatra’s Family Jewels, Family Business, New York, NY
- Chains, curated by Dani Jakob, Gabriel Vormstein, and Sebastian Hammwoehner The Horse, Berlin, Germany
- A Disagreeable Object, curated by Ruba Katrib, SculptureCenter, New York, NY
- These Transitional Spaces, curated by Seth Kelly, Franklin Street Works
2011
- Secret Societies, Schirn Kuntshalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany; CAPC Musée d’art Contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
- In the Name of the Artists: American Contemporary Art from the Astrup Fearnley Collection, Bienal de São Paolo, Brazil
- Intuitive Dance Performance with Matthew Ronay and Nathan Carter, Locust Projects, Miami, FL
- The Hunting of the Snark, Galerie de Multiples, Paris, France The Light Show, Kate Werble Gallery, New York, NY
2010
- Love in Vein: Editions Fawbush projects and artists 2005-2010, Gering & López Gallery, New York, NY
2010
- Next Wave Art, Brooklyn Academy of Museum, Brooklyn, New York
- The Incomplete–Paris: Artists from the Neumann Family Collection, Galerie Jean-Luc & Takaka Richard, Paris, France
- Neue Alchemie, Kunst der Gegenwart nach Beuys, LWL–Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster, Germany Homuculi: Matt Greene, Allison Schulnik, Ruby Neri & Matthew Ronay, Canada Gallery, New York, NY
2009
- The Audio Show, Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York, NY
- The Living and the Dead, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, NY
2008
- Political Correct, BFAS Blondeau Fine Art Services, Geneve, Switzerland
- Meet Me Around the Corner–Works from the Astrup Fearnley Collection, Astrup Fearnley Museum for Modern Art, Oslo, Norway
- FunFunFun, curated to Gitte Ørskou, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Århus, Denmark
2007
- The Incomplete, curated by Manon Slome and Hubert Neumann, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, NY
- The Wu-Tang / googolplex Show (Congress), GBE@Passerby, New York, NY
- REC.OLLECTION, Esther Schipper, Berlin, Germany
- Phantasmania, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
2006
- The Food Show, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, NY
- SUMMER, Nils Stærk, Copenhagen, Denmark
2005
- Looking at Words, The Formal Use of Text in Modern and Contemporary Works on Paper, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY
- The Art of Chess, Luhring Augustine, New York, NY; Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow, Russia
- Uncertain States of America: American Art in the 3rd Millennium, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France; Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland; Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom
- Make It Now: New Sculpture in New York, SculptureCenter, Long Island City, NY
- Monuments for the USA, CCAC Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA; White Columns, New York, NY White Columns Benefit Auction, White Columns, New York, NY Withdrawal, curated by Joe Scanlan, Galerie Chez Valentin, Paris, France
2004
- 2004 Whitney Biennial, curated by Chrissie Iles, Shamim Momin, and Debra Singer, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
- Four-Ply, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY the stars are so big, THE EARTH IS SO SMALL… stay as you are (Part I), curated by Robert Meijer, Esther Schipper, Berlin; Studio Manuela Klerkx, Milan, Italy
2003
- We are electric, curated by Chris Perez, Deitch Projects, New York, NY Game Over, Grimm Rosenfeld, Munich, Germany
- New Slang: Emerging Voices in Sculpture, curated by Claudia Altman-Siegel, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, NY Matthew Ronay, Evan Holloway & Hiroshi Sugito, MARC FOXX, Los Angeles, CA
- Telling Stories, Vedanta / Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Little Triggers, Cohan, Leslie, & Browne, New York, NY
2002
- youngsters* sculptures and other works from Los Angeles & New York, Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna, Austria Artists Imagine Architecture, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
- Gallery Luhmann, curated by Jason Dodge, Nils Stærk, Copenhagen, Denmark Now is the Time, curated by Ken Freed, Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs, Long Island City, NY
- Sudden Glory: Sight Gags and Slapstick in Contemporary Art, Logan Gallery, CCAC Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA
- MARC FOXX, Los Angeles, CA
- Sudden Glory: Sightgags and Slapstick, curated by Ralph Rugoff, CCAC Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA
2001
- Boomerang, Collectors Choice, Exit Art, New York, NY Mink Jazz, curated by Bruce Hainley, MARC FOXX, Los Angeles, CA
2000
- Two Friends and So On, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, NY
1999
- Minty, curated by Bruce Hainley, Richard Telles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
public collections
- Albright Knox, Buffalo, New York, NY
- ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark
- Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo, Norway
- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
- Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
- Fürstenberg Zeitengenössisch, Karlstad, Donaueschingen, Denmark
- Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- Kistefos, Oslo, Norway
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA
- Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY
- Pérez Art Museum (PAMM), Miami, FL
- Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
- Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
