RYAN LEE

New York - 515 West 26th Street - NY 10001

Founded in 2013 by Mary Ryan and Jeffrey Lee, RYAN LEE Gallery has emerged as a vital and inclusive force within the New York art world. The gallery is known for its thoughtful, multigenerational programming that bridges post-war and contemporary practices. From its inception, RYAN LEE has maintained a spirit of openness and intellectual curiosity, inviting discovery and dialogue across disciplines and communities.

The gallery’s exhibitions span a wide range of media, including painting, photography, sculpture, video, and performance. It is particularly noted for championing artists whose work challenges conventional boundaries—whether political, material, or conceptual. The program balances the representation of emerging talents with celebrated figures and important estates, ensuring a dynamic cross-section of voices.

Throughout its history, RYAN LEE has shown a sustained commitment to narratives often marginalized in mainstream art discourse. Feminist, queer, Black, and Asian American perspectives are central to the gallery’s vision, shaping both its curatorial choices and broader mission. This dedication reflects the gallery’s belief that art can serve as a vehicle for cultural memory and social transformation.

With over sixty years of combined experience, the founders have cultivated strong relationships with leading institutions worldwide. The gallery regularly collaborates with museums to secure exhibitions and acquisitions for its artists, building long-term legacies and extending the impact of their work. It also supports scholarly research and produces academic catalogues to deepen engagement with each artist’s practice.

RYAN LEE’s influence reaches far beyond the walls of its Chelsea space. Its artists have been included in major international biennials and featured in prominent museum collections from MoMA and the Guggenheim to the Tate and Crystal Bridges. With an unwavering commitment to creative excellence and historical relevance, the gallery continues to shape contemporary art’s evolving landscape.

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All About Photo Magazine

Issue #49

Stay up-to-date with call for entries, deadlines and other news about exhibitions, galleries, publications, & special events.

Call for Entries

AAP Magazine #52: Street

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Event

Mosquito Coast by Guillaume Bonn

“Mosquito Coast”, a new exhibition at the Cadaval Palace in the city of Evora-Portugal, showcases a series of thought-provoking photographs by Guillaume Bonn, carefully chosen from within his portfolio to delve into the very essence of East Africa’s architectural identity.

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Event

Brad Walls: PASSE

Brad Walls presents PASSÉ, an immersive new exhibition set within a monochromatic red environment in New York City, reimagining ballet from an aerial perspective. Known for his minimalist aerial photography and internationally published series, Walls invites viewers not just to observe, but to step inside the frame—onto the red carpet where the art was made, and into the lives and stories of the dancers themselves.

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All About Photo Presents ’Rural Life in the Hudson Valley’ by Susan Anthony

Event

Contest

All About Photo Presents 'Rural Life in the Hudson Valley' by Susan Anthony

The photographs in this exhibition are part of a project about rural life in the Hudson Valley. For the past five years, I have been taking photographs of individuals and families in upstate New York. Having spent many years as a weekender and homeowner, most of the people I knew were other New Yorkers, and I never had the chance to meet people who grew up in this rural area. During the pandemic, I spent many hours outside with my camera, walking along the road and photographing local residents. Eventually, I decided to create a project about the people I met. Now, as some of these individuals have become friends, I continue to meet others whose families have lived in this area for many generations.

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Event

Matthew Arthur Williams: In Consideration of Our Times

Stills presents an exhibition of new photography by Matthew Arthur Williams. Williams is a Glasgow-based artist who has become known for a visual arts practice that explores themes of race, queerness, memory and history. A key concern that he addresses in his work is the absence of representation and how this can be perpetuated by formal histories and archives.

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Event

50X50: Side Fundraising Print Sale

The 50x50 fundraising print sale is now live, giving the public the chance to acquire affordable, high-quality photographic images while raising essential funds for the UK’s only arts organisation dedicated to documentary film and photography centred on working-class life, both in the North East and internationally.

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Event

37th International Festival of Photojournalism Visa pour l'Image

With the world in an even worse state than usual, Visa pour l’Image is more necessary today than it has ever been. Even more than 37 years ago, when we launched this project that nobody believed in.

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Event

Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985

Photography and the Black Arts Movement brings together approximately 150 works spanning photography, video, collage, painting, installation, and other photo-based media, some of which have rarely or never been on view. Among the over 100 artists included in the exhibition are Billy Abernathy (Fundi), Romare Bearden, Dawoud Bey, Frank Bowling, Kwame Brathwaite, Roy DeCarava, Louis Draper, David C. Driskell, Charles Gaines, James E. Hinton, Danny Lyon, Gordon Parks, Adrian Piper, Nellie Mae Rowe, Betye Saar, Raymond Saunders, Jamel Shabazz, Lorna Simpson, and Carrie Mae Weems

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Event

What Have We Done? Unpacking 7 decades of World Press Photo

In 2025, World Press Photo marks its 70 year anniversary; a milestone which provides the opportunity not only to look back at the remarkable history of the organization, but also to examine how the images World Press Photo awarded and helped to give a global platform over the past seven decades have shaped the public’s understanding of the world.

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All About Photo Presents ’The Witching Hour’ by Anastasia Sierra

Event

Contest

All About Photo Presents 'The Witching Hour' by Anastasia Sierra

I become a mother and stop sleeping through the night. Years go by, the child sleeps soundly in his bed but I still wake at every noise. My father comes to live with us and all of a sudden I am a mother to everyone. As I drift off to sleep I can no longer tell my dreams from reality. In one nightmare my father tells me he’s only got two weeks left to live, in another I am late to pick up my son from school and never see him again. I am afraid of monsters, but instead of running, I move towards them: we circle each other until I realize that they are just as afraid of me as I am of them.

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RYAN LEE

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