“Bad Fruit” sculptor Kathleen Ryan to be represented by Gagosian.

Gagosian has announced its representation of Kathleen Ryan, an American sculptor celebrated for her monumental Dutch vanitas-inspired sculptures. Her debut exhibition with the gallery is slated for 2026.

Born in Santa Monica in 1984, Ryan creates work rooted in the cultural and natural landscapes of the West Coast, incorporating elements from Los Angeles muscle car culture to the region’s lush landscapes. She completed her BA at Pitzer College in 2006 and received her MFA at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2014. At UCLA, she studied under Charles Ray and Catherine Opie. Just three years later, Ryan presented her first solo museum exhibition at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Ryan’s sculptures—often massive and adorned with glittering gemstones—are reinterpretations of the fruit depicted by Dutch Masters. These fruits are depicted mid-rot, intended as a commentary against American consumerism and gluttony. This approach is at the heart of her ongoing series, “Bad Fruit,” which she started in 2018. The parts of the sculpture that resemble mold are made from dark-colored gemstones such as black tourmaline, amazonite, and serpentine, among others.

One standout example is Bad Melon (2020), which resembles moldering pieces of watermelon made from glass beads and gemstones, such as quartz and rhodonite, among other materials. The rind is made from a disposed Airstream trailer. Like many of her sculptures, Bad Melon combines precious objects with salvaged materials, emphasizing contradictions between decay and decadence.

Now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, Ryan has presented solo exhibitions with François Ghebaly in Los Angeles, Karma in New York, and Josh Lilley in London. Her work is featured in several prestigious collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Currently, the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco is hosting “Spotlight: Kathleen Ryan,” focusing on her 2023 sculpture Screwdriver, which repurposes a car trunk from a 1968 AMC Javelin. The discarded metal is transformed into a molding orange slice, complete with a cherry skewered with a patio umbrella.