Ryan Heshka was born in Manitoba, Canada, and grew up in Winnipeg. Fueled by long prairie winters, he spent a lot of his childhood drawing, building cardboard cities and making super 8 films. Early influences that persist to this day include antiquated comics and pulp magazines, natural history, graphic design and music, movies and animation. Formally trained in interior design, he is self-taught as an artist. His illustrations have appeared in Vanity Fair, Playboy, Wall Street Journal, Esquire, the New York Times, on numerous book and album covers, and on the cover and interiors of BLAB!. He has been selected to appear in American Illustration, Society of Illustrators, and Communication Arts. In addition to gallery shows across North America and Europe, he has written and illustrated the "Mean Girls Club" comic book and graphic novel, as well as the recently self-published comic books "Frog Wife" and “Pleasure Planet”. He lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife Marinda and daughter Roxy.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
“Don’t Wake Daddy XX”, Feinkunst Krüger; Hamburg, Germany
“Pantheon”, Mortal Machine Gallery; New Orleans, LA
“Universal Monsters”, CODA/Harman Projects/Canopy; Austin, TX
“Fantasmagoria 2”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
“20th Annual BLAB! Show”, Copro Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Spectacle de Petite”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
“Morgue Obscura” (Solo), Corey Helford Gallery; Los Angeles, CA
2024
“KirbyVision: Jack Kirby Tribute Exhibition”, Corey Helford Gallery; Los Angeles
“Fantasmagoria”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
“Fable + Folklore”, Copro Gallery (with Beautiful Bizarre Magazine); Santa Monica, CA
“Urvanity Art Fair” (with Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea); Madrid, Spain
“Springs to Come” (Solo), Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea; Milan, Italy
2023
“Chroma Crush” (Solo), Copro Gallery (with BLAB!); Santa Monica, CA
“Protection No Longer Assured”, Coleccíon SOLO; Madrid, Spain
“Secret Longings”, Corey Helford Gallery (with Beautiful Bizarre Magazine); Los Angeles, CA
“Roq La Rue 25th Anniversary Show”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
“Birds Rising”, Brassworks Gallery; Portland, OR
2022
“Vile-O-Vision” (Solo), Corey Helford Gallery; Los Angeles, CA
“Tiny Ghosts”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
“Two Person Exhibition”, HeyThere! Projects; Joshua Tree, CA
“the BLAB! Show”, Copro Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Don’t Wake Daddy 17”, Feinkunst Krüger; Hamburg, Germany
2020
“Mindset Reset”(Solo), Gallery Poulsen; Copenhagen, Denmark
“the BLAB! Show”, Copro Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Fall Show”, Gallery Poulsen; Copenhagen, Denmark
“Neo-Fabulists 2”, Feinkunst Krüger; Hamburg, Germany
2019
“FREEKS” (Solo), Corey Helford Gallery; Los Angeles, CA
“Don’t Wake Daddy 14”, Feinkunst Krüger; Hamburg, Germany
“Mother & Child”, Dorothy Circus Gallery; Rome, Italy
“Anti-Heroes”, Tauranga Art Gallery; Tauranga, New Zealand
2018
“Midnight Movie” (Solo), Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea; Milan, Italy
“Group Show”, sp[a]ce Gallery; Pasadena, CA
2016
“Mean Girls Club mini show” (Solo), Floating World; Portland, OR
“the BLAB! Show”, Copro Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Don’t Wake Daddy 11”, Feinkunst Krüger; Hamburg, Germany
“The Hours of Silence”, Gallery House; Toronto, ON
“Arcana”, Red Truck Gallery; New Orleans, LA
2015
“Romance of Canada” (Solo), Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea; Milan, Italy
“EXPO”, Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea; Milan, Italy
“Don’t Wake Daddy 10”, Feinkunst Krüger; Hamburg, Germany
“HEY! Exhibition #2”, Halle Saint Pierre; Paris, France
“One Page”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
“Twenty Years Under the Influence of Juxtapoz”, LA Municipal Art Gallery; Los Angeles, CA
2014
“Mean Girls Club” (solo installation), Wieden + Kennedy; Portland, OR
“Don’t Wake Daddy 9”, Feinkunst Krüger; Hamburg, Germany
“One Year Anniversary”, Atomica Gallery; London, England
“Sonic”, SCOPE Art Fair Miami; Miami, FL
2013
“Strange Powers 3” (Solo), Copro Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
"Teenage Machine Age" (Solo), Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea; Milan, Italy
“Don’t Wake Daddy 8”, Feinkunst Krüger; Hamburg, Germany
“Other Worlds”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
“The Beast Within”, Tory Folliard Gallery; Milwaukee, WI
“Northern Lights”, Rotofugi Gallery; Chicago, IL
2012
"Disasterama" (Solo), Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
"Don't Wake Daddy 7", Feinkunst-Kruger; Hamburg, Germany
"the BLAB! Show", Copro Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Ours” (Solo), Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea; Milan, Italy
“Group Exhibition” (presented by Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea), ArtFirst Art Fair; Bologna, Italy
“Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me”, Copro Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
2011
“In the Trees: Twin Peaks 20th Anniversary show”, Clifton’s Brookdale, Los Angeles, CA
“Instinction” (Solo), Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
“Krampus (a BLAB! show)”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, WA
“Strange Powers 2” (Solo), Copro Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“End of Days (a BLAB! show)”, Copro Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Power Punch”, Giant Robot; Los Angeles, CA
“Vancouver Artists”, Interurban Gallery; Vancouver, B.C.
2010
“Don’t Wake Daddy 5”, Feinkunst-Krueger; Hamburg, Germany
“Super Things” (Solo), Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, Washington
“BLAB! Show”, Philip Slein Gallery; St. Louis, MO
“Neo-Fabulists”, Feinkunst-Krueger; Hamburg, Germany
“Strange Powers” (Solo), Rotofugi Gallery; Chicago , IL
“Lush Life 2”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, Washington
2009
“True Self”, Jonathan Levine Gallery; New York, NY
“Envirus” (Solo), Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, Washington
“Lush Life”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, Washington
“End of Days (a BLAB! show)”, Copro Nason Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Electro-Wonders” (Solo), Harold Golen Gallery; Miami, Florida
2008
“Don’t Wake Daddy 3”, Feinkunst-Krueger; Hamburg, Germany
“Mark Murphy Art Basel Show”, Art Basel; Florida
“Ryan Heshka: The OBIT Paintings (a BLAB! show)” (Solo), Copro Nason Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Anniversary Show”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, Washington
“BLAB! A Retrospective” , Kansas State University, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art; Manhattan, KS
“Ryan Heshka: Radio Science Funnies Inc. (presented by BLAB!)” (Solo), Secret Headquarters; Los Angeles, CA
2007
“Don’t Wake Daddy 2”, Feinkunst-Krueger; Hamburg, Germany
“BLAB! show”, Philip Slein Gallery; St. Louis, MO
“Three person show”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, Washington
“BLAB! show”, Copro Nason Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Ryan Heshka: Neo-Pulp” (Solo), Orbit Gallery; West New York, NJ
“Jolly Gleetime”, DVA Gallery; Chicago, IL
2006
“Radio Show” (Solo), JEM Gallery; Vancouver, B.C.
“Three Person Show”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, Washington
“Don’t Wake Daddy”, Feinkunst-Krueger; Hamburg, Germany
“BLAB! show”, Copro Nason Gallery; Santa Monica, CA
“Everything but the Kitschen Sync”, Jesus La Luz Gallery; Los Angeles, CA
“Ryan Heshka: ABC SpookShow” (Solo), El Kartel; Vancouver, B.C.
2005
“Humanitarium” (Solo), Parking Spot Gallery; Vancouver, B.C.
“Medium Rare”, Columbia Street Gallery; Vancouver, B.C.
“Mod Squad”, Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, Washington
“Everything but the Kitschen Sync”, Jesus La Luz Gallery; Los Angeles, CA
“The Small Show” (Solo), Columbia Street Gallery; Vancouver, B.C
2004
“The Pin Up Show” , Roq La Rue Gallery; Seattle, Washington
“Miss Universe” (Solo), El Kartel; Vancouver, B.C.
“Predicta”, Columbia Street Gallery; Vancouver, B.C.