American artist Sterling Ruby joins us for a dive into his multifaceted art practice and his monumental sculpture DOUBLE CANDLE.
American artist Sterling Ruby is recognized as one of today’s most prolific and inventive artists. He works across an enormous range of media including textiles, painting, drawing, collage, photography, video, ceramics, and sculpture. His art is often inspired by the physical and conceptual landscape of Los Angeles, where he currently lives and works, and he finds meaning in pushing the boundaries between artistic media and seemingly disparate ideas. Through this, his artwork often alludes to the power structures and systemic inequalities found in US culture.
Probing, dismantling, and overthrowing the legacy of Minimalism has been a particular focus for Ruby; some of his most impactful early work involved dousing classic Minimalist forms in spray paint. His work often explores ways in which pleasure or splendor can be produced out of acts of defacement, such as graffiti. Ruby has spoken often of the “frozen gesture” as an important theme in his work, a motif that can been seen through his process of making ceramics or in his large-scale poured urethane works. Ruby’s practice evolved recently into fashion, debuting his label, S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA., at Pitti Uomo in Florence in early 2019.