Nari Ward

Obama Can

2017

In the hands of sculptor Nari Ward, a host of found materials like shoestrings, baby strollers and shopping carts are recontextualized into thought-provoking art pieces that challenge pressing social and political issues. From Ward’s We the People meditating on American democracy to his award-winning Amazing Grace installation confronting the AIDS crisis and drug epidemics of the 1990s, he has tackled the complexities of race, poverty, consumer culture and national identity.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Ward moved to New York City in the 1970s and earned a bachelor’s degree from the City University of New York in 1989 and a Master of Fine Arts in 1992. He created his breakthrough piece, Amazing Grace, while attending a residency in 1993 at the Studio Museum in Harlem. The work involves 365 abandoned baby strollers and fire hoses installed in a ship-like shape while Mahalia Jackson’s version of the famous hymn plays over a speaker.

Ward combats social injustices by looking for ways to transform these ideological concepts into a physical form. Frequently, he is struck by an object found on the street in which he sees a story. Ward uses different materials to create a dialogue and play on themes like healing, reclamation and violence. In Iron Heavens, scorched baseball bats signify brutality and rejuvenation, while over 300 oven pans symbolize a night sky. 

His decades of dedication to his practice have included commissions from the United Nations and World Health Organization. His many exhibitions include shows at MCA Denver, New York’s New Museum, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and the 45th Venice Biennale in Italy. Both private and public collectors around the world seek out Ward’s art, with his work held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the National Gallery of Victoria in Southbank, Australia. 

Ward has received a number of accolades over his career, including a fellowship from the United States Artists, the Vilcek Prize in Fine Arts from the Vilcek Foundation, the Joyce Foundation’s Joyce Award and the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Rome. 

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Nari Ward’s prints and multiples.