~STERLING RUBY/MOCA L.A.

MOCA FOCUS: ‘STERLING RUBY – SUPERMAX 2008’ – opens today.
the show runs JUNE 19 – AUGUST 19, 2008
MOCA PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER, THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, LOS ANGELES

“MOCA Focus: Sterling Ruby, SUPERMAX 2008 is the eighth installment of MOCA’S series of one-person exhibitions of work by emerging artists in Southern California. Presented at MOCA Pacific Design Center, the exhibition will feature new works in an installment specifically designed for the space. Sterling Ruby’s works in collage, ceramics, video, and sculpture tackle received notions of aesthetic tropes and social stereotypes that are based on visual signs. Often monumental in scale, Ruby’s works immerse the viewer in sets of formal codes and gestures that refer to transience, transgression, and transference – phenomena that are social and psychological, physical and emotional. Born in Bittburg, Germany, in 1972, Ruby received BFAs from the Pennsylvania School of Art and Design in 1998 and from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2002. After relocating to Los Angeles in 2003, Ruby received an MFA from Art Center College of Design in 2005, and his work has been featured in numerous exhibitions internationally. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by MOCA Curator Philipp Kaiser.” ~MOCA press release

Sterling MOCA # 1
STERLING RUBY, ‘Big Grid/DACSKKKK’, 2008, Formica, 36 x 84 x 84 ins.
collection of Norman and Norah Stone, San Francisco, courtesy Thea Westreich Art Advisory Services. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer/IMAGE COURTESY: MOCA

Sterling MOCA # 2
STERLING RUBY, ‘SP21’, 2008, spray paint on canvas, 100 x 144 ins.
courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, NYC.
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer/IMAGE COURTESY: MOCA

Sterling MOCA # 3
STERLING RUBY, ‘The Bride’, 2008, PVC pipe, formica, urethane, spray paint and wood,
192 x 72 x 48 ins. courtesy of the artist and Galleria Emi Fontana, Milan, Italy.
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer/IMAGE COURTESY: MOCA

. . . buzz on 27th street says . . . STERLING keeps a small army of assistants – working around the clock – to keep all his dealers, something like 5 now, and counting !! – happy. FOXY PRODUCTION was the first gallery to show his work in NYC – first showcasing STERLING RUBY’S work in a one man show, Winter of 2004 (JAN 22-FEB 28, 2004).

Michael Gillespie met Sterling Ruby in Chicago – at one of the art fairs. Chicago was very hot – at that time – for new art, as in brand !! new – right on the cutting edge – art.

FOXY PRODUCTION also gave Sterling a one man show in the Spring of 2005 (APRIL 14-JUNE 4, 2005), and, of course more recently – FOXY PRODUCTION presented STERLING RUBY – ‘SUPEROVERPASS’ – last year – that exhibit running APRIL 27 – MAY 26, 2007. artlovers was at the opening.

Sterling Ruby/FOXY 2007
STERLING RUBY opens ‘SUPEROVERPASS’ at FOXY PRODUCTION, NYC, APRIL 27, 2007
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH

see: more pix from the STERLING RUBY/’SUPEROVERPASS’ opening at FOXY PRODUCTION.

see: more info/STERLING RUBY/’SUPEROVERPASS’
note: the card for the show – it’s a close-up detail – of the kind of cryptic lettering – that is scratched into the formica sculpture pieces. seemingly at random, and just found here and there – that is, sparsely. but all of the formica pieces so far, anyway – are marked in this way.

FOXY PRODUCTION also showed a large STERLING RUBY Formica piece in the recent ARMORY ART FAIR 2008.

Sterling-Armory
STERLING RUBY, ‘Headless Dick’, Formica, screws, wood, glue – at the FOXY PRODUCTION booth, ARMORY ART FAIR/SHOW (..whatever)
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
see: more pix/FOXY PRODUCTION/ARMORY
where – there’s also a couple of pix of the large STERLING RUBY sculpture, ‘Big Grid’ – that the MARC FOXX Gallery out of Los Angeles, presented in their booth. you can make out the incised markings pretty well, on the right hand side of this piece – in the photos.

check out: STERLING RUBY/artist page/on FOXY PRODUCTION

MOCA/The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles