RYAN MCGINLEY AND MICHAEL STIPE WITH DREW SAWYER

Please join us in the West Room for a special evening alongside artists Ryan McGinley and Michael Stipe, in conversation with curator Drew Sawyer.

New Yorkers, all: Ryan and Michael will discuss their work with Drew; about the creation of alternative forms of culture, as well as the crossover to mass appeal that they both share.

Ryan McGinley is a New York–based photographer. His early photos displayed the unseen intersection of Skateboard and Graffiti culture with a strong Queer focus. At the age of twenty-five, he became the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. For more than a decade McGinley has road tripped continuously throughout the United States to create work that incorporates the human body within the American landscape. You can always find Ryan on the streets of NYC doing Queer activism, fighting for LGBTQ rights. McGinley frequently has solo gallery and museum exhibitions around the world. 

Michael Stipe, American, born 1960, is an artist, producer and singer/songwriter. He fronted the band R.E.M. for 31 years, sold over 100 million records and toured the world. For the past decade, his personal focus has been cross-medium work, incorporating video, soundscape, sculpture, and photographic and digital imagery. He has recently released four photography books with Damiani, Bologna. His first institution show was at ICA Milano in December 2023. He is currently completing his first solo album, to be released in 2025. 

Drew Sawyer is the Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where he recently organized the exhibition "Mark Armijo McKnight: Decreation," on view now at the museum. He is also co-curator of the upcoming 2026 Whitney Biennial with with Marcela Guerrero. An accomplished curator and art historian, Sawyer has focused on the intersection of art and social movements of the 1930s and 1970s, as well as queer art histories and contemporary practices in the U.S. 

Doors at 6pm. Beer, wine and select cocktails will be available.
The conversation will begin at 7pm.

• Please RSVP with the form. 
• Please do not RSVP more than once.
• Capacity is limited, and RSVP does not guarantee entry.
• Only the first 175 guests with e-mail confirmation will be admitted.
• Please enter at 10 Allen Street

For dinner or drinks afterward, please consider making a reservation at Corner Bar or Swan Room.