Virginia Ryan, (b. Australia, 1956) Signed and dated, `Virginia Ryan 2012` (lower right) Acrylic

Virginia Ryan, (b. Australia, 1956) Signed and dated, `Virginia Ryan 2012` (lower right) Acrylic on canvas 144 x 185cm (56.7 x 72.8in)

In the `Rue de Commerce` series of paintings, Ryan references the Pagne, a wax printed cloth widely used in West Africa. She is interested in the importance of women in the cloth`s history and the Pagne`s cultural origins and subsequent journey in relation to the cultural associations it has today.

Virginia Ryan writes, "For me, the title Rue du Commerce refers not only to a precise street in Abidjan, but to the very idea of trade routes, such as that of the history of wax print; from Indonesia to Holland and from there further afield to the coastlines of West Africa.”

Virginia Ryan is an Australian-born artist based in Europe and the Ivory Coast, West Africa. She graduated in 1979 from the National Art School, Canberra, Australia and since has worked internationally within the disciplines of painting, photography, sculpture and installation, on both solo and collaborative projects with artists, anthropologists and musicians.

Much of her artistic research during the many years she`s been based in Africa has been concerned with identity, land and memory, resulting in large-scale projects such as `The Castaways Project` and the `Rue Du Commerce` series.

Biography:

In 2004 Ryan co-founded the Foundation for Contemporary Art (FCA) in Ghana, which she directed until 2007. Since 2008, she has shown at the Biennales of Malindi, Dakar and Venice.

In 2013 Ryan re-established her studio in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast. She is president of the Ivorian based N.G.O. `Make Art Not War` which aims to use creative means in peace building and reconciliation and is represented by Galerie Cecile Fakhoury in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Exhibited:

`Shift/Rue Du Commerce`, Spoleto International Festival of Two Worlds 2013, June - July 2013. Click here to view Catalogue