Ryan Crotty creates non-representational color-field paintings rooted in the process-intensive traditions of printmaking. By highlighting visual evidence of the canvas support structures, surface imperfections, and materials, Crotty generates an interplay of light and color through translucent paint that challenges how we visually interpret a two-dimensional surface.

Ryan Crotty was born in 1977 in Auburn, NE, where he resides. He earned his BFA from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, NE (2004) and his MFA from Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY (2013).

He has mounted solo exhibitions at Galerie Robertson Ares in Montreal, Ontario (2022); High Noon in New York City, NY (2021); and the Lux Art Center in Lincoln, NE (2018).

His work has been included in group exhibitions such as Glow at Flinn Gallery in Greenwich Library, Greenwich, CT (2023); 300 Days of Sun at Hexton Gallery in Aspen, CO (2023); More Light! at Chart Gallery in New York City, NY (2022); and More or Less at Hemphill Fine Arts in Washington, D.C. (2018).

Crotty’s work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Hyperallergic, and Design Milk.