Ryan SU
Head of Art & Cultural Property Law, Singapore and Asia; Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, New York
Ryan is a mediator and arbitrator. He is also a specialist in disputes involving galleries, artists, dealers, exhibitions and loans, logistics and storage, bailment and liens, IP and copyright, agency agreements, art fairs, biennales, artwork commissions, museums and curatorial issues, artists’ rights, talent releases, estates and wills, auction houses, employment law, tenancy, illicit cultural property, authenticity and provenance, defamation, art crime, augmented reality (AR), new media art, photography, performance, conceptual and ephemeral art, and other issues involving the arts, creative, fashion, luxury and entertainment industries. His education and practice has provided him a global outlook with stints in the United Kingdom, France, the United States and Asia.
Ryan has conducted numerous formal and ad hoc arts-related mediations as counsel and as mediator. He is an Accredited Mediator and competed at the 7th ICC International Mediation Competition (Paris). He has a keen interest in mediation, especially its intercultural aspects. Ryan has acted as counsel in international commercial arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Model Law, SIAC rules and local laws and has advised on issues involving challenges to arbitrators, arbitrators’ duties, competence-competence and construction of arbitration agreements.
Ryan is Head of Department of Art & Cultural Property Law at a leading practice in Singapore. His pioneering practice is strategically based in Asia with an international reach. Ryan’s international and regional client base comprises art collectors, artists, galleries, museums, entrepreneurs and innovators who he advises on both contentious and non-contentious issues. His views are regularly sought and Ryan is frequently interviewed by industry and international media on his work in the arts and the law. He is also Contributing Editor at leading industry periodical, ArtAsiaPacific, and works on its legal column, Fine Print.
Ryan is a Singapore-qualified lawyer and holds a Bachelors of Laws (LL.B (Hons.)), Masters of Laws (LL.M) in International Dispute Resolution & Economic Law and a PhD in Art Law & Dispute Resolution (forthcoming). He was also awarded the Patron of the Arts (2017) and Patron of Heritage (2020) by the Singapore Government. Ryan sits on the Young Patrons Committee of the National Gallery Singapore, the Asian Art Circle of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and the board of OH! Openhouse, a curatorial initiative in Singapore. Ryan is a member of the Singapore Bar. He writes and speaks in English, Mandarin Chinese and French (intermediate).
Jurisdiction: Singapore