Nari Ward

Born in St. Andrew (Jamaica) 1963.
Lives and works in New York.

Nari Ward is known for his sculptural installations composed of discarded material found and collected in his neighborhood. He has repurposed objects such as baby strollers, shopping carts, bottles, doors, television sets, cash registers and shoelaces, among other materials. Ward re-contextualizes these found objects in thought-provoking juxtapositions that create complex, metaphorical meanings to confront social and political issues surrounding race, poverty, and consumer culture. He intentionally leaves the meaning of his work open, allowing the viewer to provide his or her own interpretation.

Today's increasingly urgent questions such as the right to citizenship, the gap between rich and poor, the observation of certain social conditions such as marginalization, become crucial issues for Ward, which starts from reflections related to his direct experiences - being a Jamaican emigrated to New York, life in the Harlem district - to get universal concepts, to a universal audience. Through an ambiguity of language and the use of hybrid materials, the viewer is often displaced but certainly not indifferent: the artist's work pushes to question himself, demands an attention that goes beyond a first reading of the surface, 'affects' the thought of the beholder.