Introduction
South African born Hewett is renowned for his brooding and evocative paintings. His portraits are not about capturing an external likeness of a subject, but rather creating a portal to the inner journey of self-exploration. When creating his works, he relies principally on the intuitive processes of memory and imagination. In his twelve years of artistic practice, Hewett’s techniques have evolved from tightly wrought pencil drawings to the looser and layered surfaces of his present work. With his quick, almost brutal splashes of the palette knife, and through blending, building, edging, detailing and scraping off painterly layers, Hewett’s imagery is textured and richly hued, conveying both complexity and raw emotion, demanding intelligence and consideration from the viewer.
Solo Exhibitions
2023
Nexus, Unit, London, UK
2021
H+, UTA Artist Space, Los Angeles, USA
2019
Ryan Hewett: Nothing New Under The Sun, The Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, Texas, USA
2018
The Garden, Unit, London, UK
2017
Ryan Hewett: Once Were Leaders, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2015
Ryan Hewett: Untitled, Unit, London, UK
2014
Ryan Hewett: Enlighten, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Ryan Hewett: Seek My Fort, ThinkSpace Gallery, Culver City, California, USA
2013
Ryan Hewett: No Absolute State, Converge Gallery, New York, USA
Ryan Hewett: Genesis, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Group Exhibitions
2024
Art Brussels, Maruani Mercier, Brussels, Belgium
2023
Tales for a Stranger, The Warehouse, Zaventem, Belgium
Art Tokyo, Unit, Tokyo, Japan
2022
Nassima Landau, Tel Aviv, Israel
The Armory Show, Art Fair, Maruani Mercier, New York, USA
The Playground of Geometry, CICA, Vancouver, CA
Art Brussels, Maruani Mercier, Brussels, Belgium
2020
Drawn Together (online), Unit, London UK
Justin Bieber Charity Auction, UTA Artist Space, Los Angeles, USA
2019
New Paintings, Unit, London, UK
MTV RE-DEFINE, organised by the Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, Texas, USA
2018
CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa
2017
Barnard Collective, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
AKAA Paris, Carreau du Temple, Paris, France
nano 1.1, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
VOLTA New York, Pier 90, New York, USA
Cape Town Art Fair, CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa
2016
nano-, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Cape Town Art Fair, CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa
Future / Present, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2015
Cape Town Art Fair, Barnard Gallery Booth, The Avenue, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa
POW! POW!, The Honolulu Museum of Art, Hawaii, USA
Surface: Emerging Painters, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
LA Art Show, Los Angeles Convention Centre, LA, California, USA
La Familia: Thinkspace 10 Year Anniversary, Thinkspace Gallery, Culver City, California, USA
2014
Dinner Collection, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
SCOPE Miami, SCOPE Pavillion, Miami, Florida, USA
LAX / SFO, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, California, USA
U, Unit London, London, UK
Joburg Art Fair, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
Paint Matters, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
LAX / TXL, Urban Nation,Berlin, Germany
The Seven Deadly Sins, Unit London, London, UK
Cape Town Art Fair, The Pavillion, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa
2013
Dinner Collection, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Cape Town Art Fair, The Look Out, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa
Changing Faces: Profiling Portraits in South African Art, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Uprising, Converge Gallery, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA
Joburg Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Looking for U, Unit London, London, UK
Changing Faces: Profiling Portraits in South African Art, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Uprising, Converge Gallery, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA
Selected Press
2021
December ‘Ryan Hewett: H+’, FAD Magazine
2020
May ‘Interview with Ryan Hewett’, Visual Atelier 8
2019
December ‘Ryan Hewett’s Nothing New Under the Sun is a first for the Goss-Michael Foundation’, Patron
November ‘At Ross-Michael Foundation,’memory and fantasy’ fuel abstract works by painter Ryan Hewett’, The Dallas Morning News
‘Goss-Michael Foundation Presents Ryan Hewett Works’, Artlyst
‘Nothing New Under the Sun, A Showcase of Eight New Works by Renowned South African Artist Ryan Hewett’, FAD Magazine
June ‘Ryan Hewett’s vibrant and abstract oil paintings force us to take. a deeper look at ourselves’, Creative Boom
‘Ryan Hewett’s Provocative Figures Return at Unit London’, Hi Fructose Magazine
‘New Paintings’: Ryan Hewett opens his Fourth Solo @ Unit London’, Juxtapoz Magazine
‘Ryan Hewett’s New Paintings at Unit London‘, Cool Hunting
‘Ryan Hewett’s First Solo Exhibition at Unit London’, Trendland
2018
June ‘Towering Portraits by Ryan Hewett Mix Blocks of Bright Colours with Gestural Impasto’ Colossal
June ‘Ryan Hewett on information Overload and Keeping to Himself’, Elephant
June ‘Top 7 Art Exhibition to see in London this week’, FAD Magazine
2017
September ‘Ryan Hewett Enigmatic Painted Portraits’, Trendland
August ‘Ryan Hewett’, Create! Magazine
February ‘Beautifully Abstract Portraits by Ryan Hewett’, MiS Magazine
2016
October ‘Latest Collection of new work by South African painter Ryan Hewett on view at Unit London’, Art Daily
May ‘The Top 6 Art Exhibitions to see in London this week’, FAD Magazine
2015
April ‘Art Opening Ryan Hewett @ The Unit London’, FAD Magazine
March ‘Ryan Hewett: Untitled’, The Wall Street International Magazine
March ‘Ryan Hewett: Untitled @ Unit London’, Beautiful Bizarre
2014
June ‘Exhibition: Untitled by Ryan Hewett’, Square Mile2014
March ‘Seek My Fort‘, Windewalls
Selected Collections
Nassima Landau Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel
Amoli Foundation, Hong Kong
X Museum, Beijing, China
Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, USA
Fine Art Centre, Taipei, Taiwan
Emergentes Art Foundation, Beirut, London
Recharge Foundation, NY, USA
Weissman Family Collection, NY, US
Dean Collection, Los Angeles, USA
Bunker Foundation (Rudin De Woody Collection), Los Angeles, USA
UTA Collection, Los Angeles, USA
Corridor Foundation, China