Nari Ward

Nari Ward's (b. 1963, St. Andrew, Jamaica) dramatic sculptural installations are composed of systematically collected material from his urban neighborhood. By revealing the numerous emotions inherent within found everyday objects, Ward’s works examine issues surrounding race, poverty, and consumer culture. Nari Ward’s work has been widely exhibited on an international level, including solo exhibitions at the Perez Art Museum, Miami (2015); Savannah College of Art and Design Museum, Savannah (2015); Louisiana State University Museum of Art, Baton Rouge (2014); Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia (2011); Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams (2011); Institute of Visual Arts, Milwaukee (1997); Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston (2002); and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2001, 2000). The artist has taken part in important group exhibitions, including the Whitney Biennale (2006); Prospect 1 New Orleans (2008); and Documenta XI, Kassel (2003). In November 2015, the Pérez Art Museum Miami opened Nari Ward: Sun Splashed, a mid-career retrospective of works created over the span of Ward’s career.

In 2012, Ward was the recipient of the Rome Prize, a yearly award bestowed by the American Academy in Rome on a select group of individuals who represent the highest standard of excellence in the arts and humanities. Additionally, he has received prestigious commissions from the United Nations and the World Health Organization, and awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and the Pollock Krasner Foundation. Ward’s works is collected by numerous museums, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, North Carolina; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Whitney Museum, New York. The artist lives and works in New York.