SOPHIE RYDER
© Marc Domage
ABOUT
The contemporary practice of acclaimed British artist Sophie Ryder (b. 1963 London) holds at its core the invention of singular and impassioned narratives frequently expressed through original, monumental, sculptural works. Often up to 10 metres high, Ryder’s works are powerful not only in scale but also in the manner – customarily through the elaboration of hybrid animal and human figures – in which they represent broad themes dealing with personal sentiment and circumstance including family, spirituality or human experience. Known for her signature, grand-scale sculptural pieces, Sophie Ryder brings together a unique cast of characters with which she describes her life, relationships and experience as a human being. Exploring the complexities of emotion through animal imagery, Ryder’s work also includes mythological figures, frequently melding forms to combine the attitudes and instincts of each. Fabricated with galvanised steel wire, Ryder encourages the viewer to contemplate both the tangible and intangible aspects of her installations. Through choice of medium and technique, initial observation evokes ideas of volume and stature. Beyond the metal surface, subliminal messages emerge which possess the capability to speak to each and every one of us. To some extent, the viewers’ interaction with the works could be described as an immersive performance.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1963, London, UK
Lives and works in Cirencester, UK
Lives and works in Cirencester, UK
Education
1984 - Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
1984 - Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Solo shows
2025 - Monumental, Art Paris, With GOWEN, Paris, FR
2023 - The Year of the Rabbit: Sophie Ryder at 60 in St. James’s Square, St. James’s Square, Westminster, UK
2023 - The Sculpture Trail 2023: Women in Art, Chelsea Barracks, London, UK
2023 - Sophie Ryder: All of Us, The Lightbox, Woking, UK
2022 - Sophie Ryder, Djangoly Gallery, Nottingham, UK
2022 - Sophie Ryder at the Piece Hall, The Piece Hall, Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK
2021 - Mastering the Art : Three Leading Women Sculptors, Hignell Gallery, London, UK
2019 - Barkley Square, Mayfair, UK
2018 - Mary Hare Bronze, charity project by Pippa Middleton and Sophie Ryder, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, CAN
2018 - Hignell Gallery, London UK
2017 - Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, CAN
2017 - Hignell Gallery, London, UK
2016 - Hignell Gallery, London, UK
2016 - Sophie Ryder: Rising, Waterhouse and Dodd. Rising, New York, NY, USA
2014 - New Brewery Arts, Cirencester, UK
2014 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Stockbridge, UK
2013 - Celia Lendis Contemporary Art Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh, UK
2013 - Royal West Academy, Bristol, UK
2013 - Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA
2012 - Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, UK
2012 - Villa D’Arte, Pietrasanta, IT
2011 - Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire, UK
2010 - Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire, UK
2010 - Château Saint Rosaline, Les Arc-sur-Argens, FR
2009 - Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, UK
2008 - Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
2007 - Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA
2007 - Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
2006 - Atkinson Gallery, Millfield School, UK
2006 - Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
2005 - Canary Wharf, London, UK
2005 - Solomon Gallery, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
2004 - Installation, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, UK
2004 - Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA
2004 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
2004 - Storey Galleries, Lancaster, UK
2003 - Berkley Square Gallery, London, UK
2002 - Metropole Galleries, Folkestone, Kent, UK
2002 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury
2001 - Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montréal, QC
2000 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
2000 - Odapark, Venray, NL
2000 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
2000 - Buschlen Mowatt Galleries, Vancouver BC
1999 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
1999 - Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, UK
1998 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
1997 - O’Hara Gallery, New York, NY
1997 - Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum and Town Centre, UK
1997 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
1996 - Belloc Lowndes Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
1995 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
1994 - Winchester Cathedral, Inner Close, Winchester, UK
1994 - Red House Museum & Gardens, Christchurch, Dorset, UK
1994 - The Allen Gallery (Garden), Alton, Hampshire, UK
1992 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK 1991 Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
1990 - Newport City Museum & Art Gallery, Newport, Gwent, UK
1990 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
1990 - Henley Festival, Henley-on-Thames, UK
1990 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
1988 - St. Paul’s Gallery, Leeds, UK
1988 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
1987 - Edward Totah Gallery, London, UK
1987 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
1987 - Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, UK
2025 - Monumental, Art Paris, With GOWEN, Paris, FR
2023 - The Year of the Rabbit: Sophie Ryder at 60 in St. James’s Square, St. James’s Square, Westminster, UK
2023 - The Sculpture Trail 2023: Women in Art, Chelsea Barracks, London, UK
2023 - Sophie Ryder: All of Us, The Lightbox, Woking, UK
2022 - Sophie Ryder, Djangoly Gallery, Nottingham, UK
2022 - Sophie Ryder at the Piece Hall, The Piece Hall, Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK
2021 - Mastering the Art : Three Leading Women Sculptors, Hignell Gallery, London, UK
2019 - Barkley Square, Mayfair, UK
2018 - Mary Hare Bronze, charity project by Pippa Middleton and Sophie Ryder, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, CAN
2018 - Hignell Gallery, London UK
2017 - Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, CAN
2017 - Hignell Gallery, London, UK
2016 - Hignell Gallery, London, UK
2016 - Sophie Ryder: Rising, Waterhouse and Dodd. Rising, New York, NY, USA
2014 - New Brewery Arts, Cirencester, UK
2014 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Stockbridge, UK
2013 - Celia Lendis Contemporary Art Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh, UK
2013 - Royal West Academy, Bristol, UK
2013 - Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA
2012 - Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, UK
2012 - Villa D’Arte, Pietrasanta, IT
2011 - Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire, UK
2010 - Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire, UK
2010 - Château Saint Rosaline, Les Arc-sur-Argens, FR
2009 - Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, UK
2008 - Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
2007 - Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA
2007 - Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
2006 - Atkinson Gallery, Millfield School, UK
2006 - Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
2005 - Canary Wharf, London, UK
2005 - Solomon Gallery, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
2004 - Installation, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, UK
2004 - Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA, USA
2004 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
2004 - Storey Galleries, Lancaster, UK
2003 - Berkley Square Gallery, London, UK
2002 - Metropole Galleries, Folkestone, Kent, UK
2002 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury
2001 - Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montréal, QC
2000 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
2000 - Odapark, Venray, NL
2000 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
2000 - Buschlen Mowatt Galleries, Vancouver BC
1999 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
1999 - Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, UK
1998 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
1997 - O’Hara Gallery, New York, NY
1997 - Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum and Town Centre, UK
1997 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
1996 - Belloc Lowndes Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
1995 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
1994 - Winchester Cathedral, Inner Close, Winchester, UK
1994 - Red House Museum & Gardens, Christchurch, Dorset, UK
1994 - The Allen Gallery (Garden), Alton, Hampshire, UK
1992 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK 1991 Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
1990 - Newport City Museum & Art Gallery, Newport, Gwent, UK
1990 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
1990 - Henley Festival, Henley-on-Thames, UK
1990 - Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK
1988 - St. Paul’s Gallery, Leeds, UK
1988 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
1987 - Edward Totah Gallery, London, UK
1987 - Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Salisbury, UK
1987 - Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, UK
Group shows
2025 - Art Paris, With GOWEN, Paris, FR
2013 - Wet Paint Gallery, Cirencester, UK
2011 - Art Basel, Miami, Florida, FL, USA
2011 - Aynhoe Park, Banbury UK
2011 - Vancouver Biennale, Vancouver, CAN
2007 - Blickachsen 6, Kurpak, Frankfurt, DE
2006 - Vancouver Biennale, Vancouver, CAN
2006 - Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, IRL
2006 - Atkinson Gallery, Millfield School, UK
2005 - Solomon Gallery, Dublin, IRL
2005 - Canary Wharf, London, UK
2004 - Vancouver Biennale, Vancouver, CAN
2001 - Kirkland International Sculpture Exhibition, Washington, DC, USA
2001 - Eigse Carlow Arts Festival, Dublin, IRL
1999 - Sculpture contemporaine, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montréal, CAN
1999 - The Shape of the Century, 100 years of sculpture in Britain, Salisbury and Canary Wharf, UK
1999 - Deb Haag Sculptur, La Haye, NL
1998 - Vancouver Sculpture Festival, Vancouver, CAN
1997 - Manchester Academy, Manchester, UK
1997 - Wimpole Hall, Cambridge, UK
1997 - The Scottish Gallery, Edimburg, UK
1997 - Animals in Art (Blue Cross), Sotheby’s, London, UK
1996 - Chelsea Harbour, London, UK
1994 - Minotaur, Myths & Legends, Berkeley Square Gallery, Londres, London, UK
1993 - Sophie Ryder Collages, Oxford Gallery, Oxford, UK
1993 - Within Reach, Bury St. Edmunds Art Gallery, Suffolk, UK
1992 - Art at Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes, UK
1992 - Millfield 20th Century Sculpture Exhibition, Millfield School, Somerset, UK
1992 - Women Artists - Critics Choice, Bruton Street Gallery, London, UK
1992 - Young British Art, Arhus Festival, Aarhus, DNK
1992 - Bruton Gallery, Bath, UK
1991 - Hannah Peschar Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Ockley, UK
1990 - Menagerie, Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow , UK
1988 - Glasgow Garden Festival, Glasgow, UK
1988 - Cleveland Gallery, Middlesborough, UK
1988 - The Cultivated Garden, Oxford Gallery Oxford, UK
1988 - Chilford Hall Press, Cambridge, UK
1988 - The Fabricated Landscape, Plymouth City Museum, UK
1987 - Cats, Louise Hallett Gallery, London, UK
1986 - Bretton Menagerie, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
1986 - Freedom to Touch, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle- upon-Tyne, UK
1986 - Animal in Photography, Photographers Gallery, London, UK
1986 - Summer in the City, Gallery 24, London, UK
1985 - The Nature of the Beast, Sculpture Lawn, Henley Festival, Henley-on-Thames, UK
1985 - Harry Scott & Sophie Ryder, Gallery 24, London, UK
1984 - Christie’s Inaugural Pick of the Graduates, London, UK
1984 - Dogwork, Interim Art, London, UK
2025 - Art Paris, With GOWEN, Paris, FR
2013 - Wet Paint Gallery, Cirencester, UK
2011 - Art Basel, Miami, Florida, FL, USA
2011 - Aynhoe Park, Banbury UK
2011 - Vancouver Biennale, Vancouver, CAN
2007 - Blickachsen 6, Kurpak, Frankfurt, DE
2006 - Vancouver Biennale, Vancouver, CAN
2006 - Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, IRL
2006 - Atkinson Gallery, Millfield School, UK
2005 - Solomon Gallery, Dublin, IRL
2005 - Canary Wharf, London, UK
2004 - Vancouver Biennale, Vancouver, CAN
2001 - Kirkland International Sculpture Exhibition, Washington, DC, USA
2001 - Eigse Carlow Arts Festival, Dublin, IRL
1999 - Sculpture contemporaine, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montréal, CAN
1999 - The Shape of the Century, 100 years of sculpture in Britain, Salisbury and Canary Wharf, UK
1999 - Deb Haag Sculptur, La Haye, NL
1998 - Vancouver Sculpture Festival, Vancouver, CAN
1997 - Manchester Academy, Manchester, UK
1997 - Wimpole Hall, Cambridge, UK
1997 - The Scottish Gallery, Edimburg, UK
1997 - Animals in Art (Blue Cross), Sotheby’s, London, UK
1996 - Chelsea Harbour, London, UK
1994 - Minotaur, Myths & Legends, Berkeley Square Gallery, Londres, London, UK
1993 - Sophie Ryder Collages, Oxford Gallery, Oxford, UK
1993 - Within Reach, Bury St. Edmunds Art Gallery, Suffolk, UK
1992 - Art at Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes, UK
1992 - Millfield 20th Century Sculpture Exhibition, Millfield School, Somerset, UK
1992 - Women Artists - Critics Choice, Bruton Street Gallery, London, UK
1992 - Young British Art, Arhus Festival, Aarhus, DNK
1992 - Bruton Gallery, Bath, UK
1991 - Hannah Peschar Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Ockley, UK
1990 - Menagerie, Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow , UK
1988 - Glasgow Garden Festival, Glasgow, UK
1988 - Cleveland Gallery, Middlesborough, UK
1988 - The Cultivated Garden, Oxford Gallery Oxford, UK
1988 - Chilford Hall Press, Cambridge, UK
1988 - The Fabricated Landscape, Plymouth City Museum, UK
1987 - Cats, Louise Hallett Gallery, London, UK
1986 - Bretton Menagerie, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
1986 - Freedom to Touch, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle- upon-Tyne, UK
1986 - Animal in Photography, Photographers Gallery, London, UK
1986 - Summer in the City, Gallery 24, London, UK
1985 - The Nature of the Beast, Sculpture Lawn, Henley Festival, Henley-on-Thames, UK
1985 - Harry Scott & Sophie Ryder, Gallery 24, London, UK
1984 - Christie’s Inaugural Pick of the Graduates, London, UK
1984 - Dogwork, Interim Art, London, UK
COLLECTIONS
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Newport City Museum & Art Gallery
Barings Bank
De Beers Collection
Gerrard & National Bank
New Hall College, Cambridge
Conoco Ltd
The BOC Group
The Private Bank and Trust Company Ltd
The National Trust
Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
Cheltenham Borough Council
Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
Robert and Mary Montgomery Armory Arts Center, Palm Beach, Florida,
Ballantrae Park Dublin, Ohio, USA
Frensham Heights School
Folkstone Town
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Newport City Museum & Art Gallery
Barings Bank
De Beers Collection
Gerrard & National Bank
New Hall College, Cambridge
Conoco Ltd
The BOC Group
The Private Bank and Trust Company Ltd
The National Trust
Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
Cheltenham Borough Council
Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
Robert and Mary Montgomery Armory Arts Center, Palm Beach, Florida,
Ballantrae Park Dublin, Ohio, USA
Frensham Heights School
Folkstone Town
GRANTS AND AWARDS
1992 - Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries - Art Newspaper. Prix pour la meilleure oeuvre exposée / Award for best sculpture in show.
1992 - Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries - Art Newspaper. Prix pour la meilleure oeuvre exposée / Award for best sculpture in show.
