Artist
Ryan Paul Simmons
Ryan Paul Simmons is an American artist whose work engages public life, cultural symbolism, and civic expression through bold visual language. This official website presents biography, selected works, public record, and related projects.
Artist Biography
Ryan Paul Simmons is an American artist whose work engages public life, cultural symbolism, and civic expression through bold visual language. His practice moves between image-making and public-facing presentation, with work shaped by questions of identity, memory, and cultural presence.
His exhibition history includes international presentations in Istanbul, Turkey, alongside public-facing contexts in the United States and abroad. Across his body of work, Simmons has developed an approach that merges visual impact with public meaning, positioning art not only as image, but as presence, memory, and cultural force.
Among his most recognized works is Barock the Vote, a large-scale civic painting that emerged from the public energy surrounding Barack Obama’s rise and presidency. Through works such as Barock the Vote, Simmons explores democracy, public voice, and the enduring force of American participation.
Today, Ryan Paul Simmons continues to develop work defined by bold perspective, cultural relevance, and the belief that art can live not only in galleries, but in the public imagination.
Selected Works
Selected Works presents a focused view of paintings and image-based works by Ryan Paul Simmons. Across these works, portraiture, symbolism, and bold color are used to transform recognizable subjects into images of public meaning and visual force.
Barock the Vote
2008–2009
Acrylic paint on plywood panels with wood supports
96 × 84 in.
A large-scale civic painting developed during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and inaugural period, exploring democracy, public voice, and the public life of art.
LINCOLN
2009
Acrylic on wood
48 × 72 in.
A portrait of Abraham Lincoln rendered in Simmons’s bold pop visual language, transforming a defining American figure into an image of civic memory, symbolic force, and national identity.
IMAGINE
2012
Painting on wood
48 × 48 in.
Created in support of the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief Online Auction, Imagine reflects Simmons’s engagement with art as public gesture, charity, and cultural response in a moment of national crisis.
Exhibitions & Public Record
This section documents presentations, exhibition contexts, and public-facing appearances connected to the work of Ryan Paul Simmons. It reflects a practice that moves across civic, institutional, and cultural space in the United States and abroad.
Exhibitions
Green Inaugural Ball
Washington, D.C., 2009
Health for All Blue Diamond Ball
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., 2009
Root Ball
Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C., 2009
Art Basel Miami context
Miami Beach, Florida, 2009
Work presented in Art Basel Miami context alongside major modern and contemporary names, including Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso.
Masters’ Mystery Art Show during Art Basel
The Ritz-Carlton South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, 2009
A’GACI store opening
Sawgrass Mills Mall, Sunrise, Florida, 2009
Public presentation context, Sunrise, Florida, 2009.
Museums of Perth Amboy (MOPA)
Armory Restaurant, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, 2012
Presentation context for Simmons’s Dr. Martin Luther King portrait in support of MOPA’s mission.
12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief
Auction context for Imagine, 2012
A.I.R.
Solo exhibition, ALAN Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, 2013
Contemporary Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey, 2013
Public Record
Public Record documents public-facing appearances, program contexts, and civic presentation history connected to the work of Ryan Paul Simmons. It reflects a practice that extends beyond exhibition and into cultural, institutional, and public life.
Barock the Vote live-painting campaign context
Florida and Washington, D.C., 2008–2009
Obama campaign live-painting context
Including events featuring Barack Obama, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton, 2008–2009
Bette Midler’s NYRP Hulaween Benefit Gala
New York City, 2010
New York Restoration Project
Bette Midler collaboration, 2011
NYRP 103rd Street Community Garden opening
New York City, 2011
Sean Penn’s J/P HRO / Jeff Koons / Banksy, “Decommissioned Commission” charity auction
Beverly Hills, California, 2014
Ryan Paul Simmons commission lot featured in the printed event program and related archival materials.
Super Bowl XLIX speaking context
Live presentation for the Denver Broncos, 2015
White Ribbon Alliance / Star Showers
Mother Earth, 2015
Barock the Vote
Barock the Vote is a major civic work by Ryan Paul Simmons. Through scale, symbolism, and public presentation, the work examines the relationship between image, identity, and democratic visibility.
2008–2009
Acrylic paint on plywood panels with wood supports
96 × 84 in.
Barock the Vote is a large-scale civic painting begun in 2008 during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and carried forward live in public-facing settings through that period and into inaugural week in Washington, D.C. Conceived not as a static studio object, but as an evolving public work, the painting transforms democratic participation, collective energy, and the symbolism of political hope into visual form.
During inaugural week in Washington, D.C., the work appeared in multiple public-facing contexts, including the Green Inaugural Ball, the Health for All Blue Diamond Ball, and the Root Ball. In these settings, Barock the Vote became part of the larger visual atmosphere surrounding a historic civic moment, extending its presence beyond exhibition and into lived public experience.
At its core, Barock the Vote is a work about democracy, public voice, and the enduring cultural force of American participation. Through scale, visibility, and symbolism, the painting reflects Simmons’s belief that art can move beyond the wall and enter the civic record.
Barock the Vote is intended for permanent institutional placement in the public historical record, reflecting the conviction that the work belongs within an enduring civic and cultural context.
Installation and documentary photography by Linda St Hilaire.