Ron Norsworthy | |
|---|---|
 Norsworthy in 2022 | |
| Born | South Bend, Indiana, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Princeton University |
| Known for | Visual art & design, Production design |
| Website | ronnorsworthy.com |
Ron Norsworthy is an American visual artist and designer. His work employs notions of spaces and decoration of space as narratives about his lived experience as a queer person of color as well as that of his community/communities. His interdisciplinary practice is a fusion of fine art, video and multiple design disciplines. In addition to his solo practice, Norsworthy is part of DARNstudio, an art collaboration with his husband and fellow artist, David Anthone.[1]
Norsworthy was born in South Bend, Indiana. A graduate of Princeton University, he began his career working as a designer for the architect Michael Graves.
He was the CEO and founder of the multi-disciplinary design firm The Norsworthy Fund (2005-2010) as well as creator of N Home, a line of bedding and home accessories developed in partnership with television shopping channel QVC (UK), which he presented on the channel from 2011-2014.[2]
His interest in the role of architecture in entertainment and pop culture led him to explore art direction and production design. He is responsible for numerous design projects, including many music videos, sets, interiors, and events.
Norsworthy was production designer for a music videos and televised performances for artists such as Britney Spears, Missy Elliott, Salt-N-Pepa, Erykah Badu, Madonna, Destiny's Child, Busta Rhymes, Aretha Franklin, Jay-Z, and Sean Combs (P. Diddy). These projects encompass a two decade span in which Norsworthy designed films, videos, and commercials, working with directors Matthew Rolston, Hype Williams and Spike Lee. He was elected and served on the New York Chapter Board of Governors for the Grammy Awards from 1999–2000.
Norsworthy's art has been exhibited in galleries and institutions. His work was shown at the Studio Museum in Harlem as part of the exhibition "Harlemworld: Metropolis as Metaphor" organized by curator Thelma Golden in 2004. His piece, entitled "Reparation Tower, Harlem", was a full-scaled sales office for a luxury high-rise in the form of an upraised fist. The installation and exhibition were favorably reviewed by architecture critic Herbert Mitchell Muschamp in The New York Times who described the work as "... a symbol of defiance aimed at indifference. But the symbol is handsomely fitted with interiors that signify bourgeois complacency... the views from within must be fabulous."[3]