The Art of Danial Ryan

Danial Ryan is a self-taught painter whose visionary work has quietly amassed a devoted online following over the past decade. With a deep understanding of contemporary memes and digital culture, Ryan dissects the psychological toll of internet life with rare insight. Using cats, the mascots of the internet, Ryan unravels the absurdities, anxieties, and melancholic beauty of modern existence. Displaying an astonishing command of diverse visual styles, Ryan wields a painterly genius of economy, a compositional wit, and an uncanny ability to render the most subtle, deeply human expressions through the eyes of animals.

His work draws on the visual language of memes, internet cat content, and mass-produced decorative art to explore existential themes of mortality, absurdity, and the influence of technology on the human psyche. Ryan’s remarkably prolific artistic practice offers a unique perspective on the complexities of contemporary life and the challenges of maintaining mental health, depicting cats navigating the unpredictable and often chaotic experiences of being human.

January 15: Artist reception