BRANDON RALPH

Raised by a single parent in a middle-class neighborhood on Long Island, NY, Brandon Ralph’s perspective was shaped by the juxtaposition of his mother’s unwavering belief in the American Dream and the harsh reality of growing up on welfare along with learning disabilities. Held back in grade school and placed in special education classes throughout the rest of his tenure, Ralph grappled with academic learning and exploring his early identity in a system that often felt inaccessible and unforgiving. Coupled with the loss of both parents within six months beginning at age eighteen, Ralph’s lack of financial resources forced him to drop out of New York University.

It was during this pivotal moment that Ralph’s past and present converged, revealing to him that America–while not always fair–remains a place of opportunity and possibility. With little to go on, but driven by the relentless American hustle, Ralph co-founded Code and Theory in 2001, which has since become one of the largest creative agencies in the world, and later served as the Chief Experience Officer for Equinox Fitness Clubs.

The intersection of adversity, personal loss, and professional achievement deeply informs Brandon Ralph’s inventive work and philosophy. As a contemporary artist, Ralph uses photography, sculpture, and drawing to explore the complexities of life and cultural coexistence within his projects, as embodied in The American Experiment; the concepts of time and space in Moon Landing; and the power of the female form set against an ever-evolving urban landscape in Rebirth of a City. Ralph’s art invites spectators to revisit and re-evaluate their experience through his own, offering a glimpse of how to persevere through life’s challenges with humor and irony, and creating a dialogue that reflects the intricacy of everyday existence.