Paul Ryan

Curator of of What the Folk Say at Compton Verney in 2011

If fine-art connects my head with the heart, then folk-art joins the guts to both.

In this collection, for example, I feel the fun of the Soldier Whirligig oddly contrasting with the enacted depiction of ‘armed’ conflict; the function of the Coffee Shop Sign abruptly stands for itself; and the force of A Terrible Shipwreck is so direct in its conveyance of nature’s forces.

My deep admiration for such works provokes in me a keen desire for the skills of making, and a longing for playfulness and originality in the objects of everyday life. I search for these qualities in our future as much as in our past, not in a conservative way, but with a look-out for surprising instances of ever-changing human expression and invention.