Sterling Ruby has moved nimbly between mediums and disciplines, connecting art, craft, popular culture, history, philosophy and other fields to produce a rich compendium of objects and images.

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

 

Deeply invested in the materials he uses, Ruby incorporates their histories and tactile qualities into each of his series. Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are pleased to present an exhibition of new work by Ruby, installed throughout the entire Berlin gallery, interrelating along themes of verticality, duality, craft, domesticity and shifts in scale, connecting recurrent facets across the artist's work. In an abbreviated, poetic language, the title, IN WARM SHROUD. KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. A FROST WINDOW., offers a lyrical entry point to the exhibition’s varied bodies of work.

 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022
Bleached canvas, elastic, faux shearling, fabric remnants, decals, and yarn
683.3 × 492.8 × 30.5 cm
269 × 194 × 12 inches

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Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022
Bleached canvas, elastic, faux shearling, fabric remnants, decals, and yarn
683.3 × 492.8 × 30.5 cm
269 × 194 × 12 inches

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022
Bleached canvas, elastic, faux shearling, fabric remnants, decals, and yarn
683.3 × 492.8 × 30.5 cm
269 × 194 × 12 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7807), 2022 (scale image)

Details
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Ruby's new QUILTS expand the artist’s play with scale to monumental proportions, in a suite of wall-based works that connect to his long-time engagement with fabric and assemblage. For over ten years, the artist has merged the realms of textile and painting, in series such as BC and FLAGS.

 

But the connection to cloth extends further back to his childhood in rural Pennsylvania, where Amish crafts like woodworking and quilting were prevalent. Ruby started piecing fabric scraps together into clothing as a teenager, armed with a sewing machine gifted from his mother.

The QUILTS embody warmth, touch and the handmade. Brightly colored skeins of tangled yarn, striped elastic bands designed by the artist, heat-pressed, collaged images and a variety of treated and patterned fabrics are sutured together in rectangular compositions, bisected horizontally and vertically. These fabric elements and techniques, many of which are appropriated from fashion and pattern-making, are reconfigured so as to reimagine new material possibilities in which the concepts of painting, tapestry and textile are entwined.

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942), 2022
Pleated denim, bleached canvas, elastic, and fabric remnants
654.7 × 611.5 × 10.2 cm
257 3/4 × 240 3/4 × 4 inches

More views
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022
Bleached canvas, elastic, faux shearling, fabric remnants, decals, and yarn
675.6 × 495.3 × 22.9 cm
266 × 195 × 9 inches

More views
image/svg+xml
Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942), 2022
Pleated denim, bleached canvas, elastic, and fabric remnants
654.7 × 611.5 × 10.2 cm
257 3/4 × 240 3/4 × 4 inches

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942), 2022
Pleated denim, bleached canvas, elastic, and fabric remnants
654.7 × 611.5 × 10.2 cm
257 3/4 × 240 3/4 × 4 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7942) , 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022
Bleached canvas, elastic, faux shearling, fabric remnants, decals, and yarn
675.6 × 495.3 × 22.9 cm
266 × 195 × 9 inches

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022
Bleached canvas, elastic, faux shearling, fabric remnants, decals, and yarn
675.6 × 495.3 × 22.9 cm
266 × 195 × 9 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7821), 2022 (scale image)

Details
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But the connection to cloth extends further back to his childhood in rural Pennsylvania, where Amish crafts like woodworking and quilting were prevalent. Ruby started piecing fabric scraps together into clothing as a teenager, armed with a sewing machine gifted from his mother.

The QUILTS embody warmth, touch and the handmade. Brightly colored skeins of tangled yarn, striped elastic bands designed by the artist, heat-pressed, collaged images and a variety of treated and patterned fabrics are sutured together in rectangular compositions, bisected horizontally and vertically. These fabric elements and techniques, many of which are appropriated from fashion and pattern-making, are reconfigured so as to reimagine new material possibilities in which the concepts of painting, tapestry and textile are entwined.

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901), 2022
Bleached canvas and fabric remnants
596.9 × 310.5 × 10.2 cm
235 × 122 1/4 × 4 inches

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Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901), 2022
Bleached canvas and fabric remnants
596.9 × 310.5 × 10.2 cm
235 × 122 1/4 × 4 inches

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901), 2022
Bleached canvas and fabric remnants
596.9 × 310.5 × 10.2 cm
235 × 122 1/4 × 4 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901) title pending, 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7901) title pending, 2022 (scale image)

Details
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Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907), 2022
Bleached and dyed canvas, and fabric remnants
643.9 × 307.3 × 15.2 cm
253 1/2 × 121 × 6 inches

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Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907), 2022
Bleached and dyed canvas, and fabric remnants
643.9 × 307.3 × 15.2 cm
253 1/2 × 121 × 6 inches

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907), 2022
Bleached and dyed canvas, and fabric remnants
643.9 × 307.3 × 15.2 cm
253 1/2 × 121 × 6 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907) title pending, 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907) title pending, 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby
QUILT (7907) title pending, 2022 (scale image)

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Ruby's use of assemblage in the QUILTS, particularly with everyday textiles, recall important art historical precedents from the 1960s, including Robert Rauschenberg's combines and the West Coast work of Bruce Conner and Betye Saar. At the same time, they also resonate with the grandiose backdrops of 1960s-era rock arena shows. Here, the binaries of art and craft, monumentality and intimacy, macro and micro, body and environment are collapsed, resulting in works that defy categorization.

 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/JAWA, 2021
Ceramic
99.4 × 114.3 × 114.3 cm
39 1/8 × 45 × 45 inches

More views
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL, 2022
Ceramic
130.8 × 104.1 × 203.2 cm
51 1/2 × 41 × 80 inches

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Installed in conversation with the QUILTS are two new examples of Ruby’s large-scale Basin Theology ceramics. To create them, the artist assembles pieces of ceramic detritus from past misfirings in his kiln—an uncontrolled environment in which a significant amount of objects explode and fail—and embeds them within a basin-like form. As Ruby has explained: “The Basins ultimately started to become the new vessel being filled in with all of the entrapments of the pieces that had blown up, and the failures of the past, reglazed, refired, reglazed, refired, until they become this archaeology of time.” Craft and chance are at odds in these richly evocative works, and their blend of dark glazes and metallic sheens offer additional contrasts and tension. 

image/svg+xml
Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/JAWA, 2021
Ceramic
99.4 × 114.3 × 114.3 cm
39 1/8 × 45 × 45 inches

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/JAWA, 2021
Ceramic
99.4 × 114.3 × 114.3 cm
39 1/8 × 45 × 45 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/JAWA

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/JAWA

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/JAWA (detail)

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/JAWA (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/JAWA (detail)

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/JAWA (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL, 2022
Ceramic
130.8 × 104.1 × 203.2 cm
51 1/2 × 41 × 80 inches

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL, 2022
Ceramic
130.8 × 104.1 × 203.2 cm
51 1/2 × 41 × 80 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL (detail)

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL (detail)

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL

Sterling Ruby
Basin Theology/GREASY OIL SPILL

Details
icon_fullscreen
1 of 2

Installed in conversation with the QUILTS are two new examples of Ruby’s large-scale Basin Theology ceramics. To create them, the artist assembles pieces of ceramic detritus from past misfirings in his kiln—an uncontrolled environment in which a significant amount of objects explode and fail—and embeds them within a basin-like form. As Ruby has explained: “The Basins ultimately started to become the new vessel being filled in with all of the entrapments of the pieces that had blown up, and the failures of the past, reglazed, refired, reglazed, refired, until they become this archaeology of time.” Craft and chance are at odds in these richly evocative works, and their blend of dark glazes and metallic sheens offer additional contrasts and tension. 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. FROST FERN., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
213.4 × 121.9 × 5.1 cm
84 × 48 × 2 inches

More views
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. SOFT RIME., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
133.4 × 76.2 × 3.8 cm
52 1/2 × 30 × 1 1/2 inches

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A group of new WIDW. paintings (short for “window”), an ongoing series, feature deep-blue hues that shift to lush turquoise via gestural white highlights, intimating the movement of water across the canvas surface, caught between liquid and frozen.

image/svg+xml
Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. FROST FERN., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
213.4 × 121.9 × 5.1 cm
84 × 48 × 2 inches

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. FROST FERN., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
213.4 × 121.9 × 5.1 cm
84 × 48 × 2 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. FROST FERN., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. FROST FERN., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. FROST FERN., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. FROST FERN., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. FROST FERN., 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. FROST FERN., 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. SOFT RIME., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
133.4 × 76.2 × 3.8 cm
52 1/2 × 30 × 1 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. SOFT RIME., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
133.4 × 76.2 × 3.8 cm
52 1/2 × 30 × 1 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. SOFT RIME., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. SOFT RIME., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. SOFT RIME., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. SOFT RIME., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. SOFT RIME., 2022

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. SOFT RIME., 2022

Details
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1 of 2

A group of new WIDW. paintings (short for “window”), an ongoing series, feature deep-blue hues that shift to lush turquoise via gestural white highlights, intimating the movement of water across the canvas surface, caught between liquid and frozen.

As with all WIDW. works, painted cardboard columns divide the canvas in two, suggesting the panes of a window and the consequent polar notion of looking out or looking in. The paintings' tactility and everyday motifs generate a space of intimacy, domesticity and warmth, despite the icy tonalities. And their placement in a space with actual windows, moreover, creates a physical and metaphorical doubling that situates the viewer between pictorial surface and actual depth.

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. DEPOSITION CRYPT., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
106.7 × 61 × 3.8 cm
42 × 24 × 1 1/2 inches

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Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. POLYNYAS., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
106.7 × 61 × 3.8 cm
42 × 24 × 1 1/2 inches

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Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. DEPOSITION CRYPT., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
106.7 × 61 × 3.8 cm
42 × 24 × 1 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. DEPOSITION CRYPT., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
106.7 × 61 × 3.8 cm
42 × 24 × 1 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. DEPOSITION CRYPT., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. DEPOSITION CRYPT., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. DEPOSITION CRYPT., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. DEPOSITION CRYPT., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. DEPOSITION CRYPT., 2022

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. DEPOSITION CRYPT., 2022

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. POLYNYAS., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
106.7 × 61 × 3.8 cm
42 × 24 × 1 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. POLYNYAS., 2022
Acrylic, oil, and cardboard on canvas
106.7 × 61 × 3.8 cm
42 × 24 × 1 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. POLYNYAS., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. POLYNYAS., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. POLYNYAS., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. POLYNYAS., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. POLYNYAS., 2022

Sterling Ruby
WIDW. POLYNYAS., 2022

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As with all WIDW. works, painted cardboard columns divide the canvas in two, suggesting the panes of a window and the consequent polar notion of looking out or looking in. The paintings' tactility and everyday motifs generate a space of intimacy, domesticity and warmth, despite the icy tonalities. And their placement in a space with actual windows, moreover, creates a physical and metaphorical doubling that situates the viewer between pictorial surface and actual depth.

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

 

In the upstairs gallery, a selection of Ruby's ceramic FLOWERS and REIF sculptures—also wall-bound, dimensional works—explore varying geometries in forms that likewise open, collapse and reconstitute themselves in different guises.

 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7933., 2022
Wood and paint
116.2 × 24.1 × 11.4 cm
45 3/4 × 9 1/2 × 4 1/2 inches

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The angular shards of the REIF sculptures (an abbreviation of “relief”) similarly cut through the works' compositions, creating networks of shadow and depth across their bas-relief surfaces. Compiled of offcuts and discarded scraps from previous works that the artist amasses in his studio, REIFS convey Ruby’s impulse to reinvestigate materials.

image/svg+xml
Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7933., 2022
Wood and paint
116.2 × 24.1 × 11.4 cm
45 3/4 × 9 1/2 × 4 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7933., 2022
Wood and paint
116.2 × 24.1 × 11.4 cm
45 3/4 × 9 1/2 × 4 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7933., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7933., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7933., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7933., 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7933., 2022

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7933., 2022

Details
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1 of 1

The angular shards of the REIF sculptures (an abbreviation of “relief”) similarly cut through the works' compositions, creating networks of shadow and depth across their bas-relief surfaces. Compiled of offcuts and discarded scraps from previous works that the artist amasses in his studio, REIFS convey Ruby’s impulse to reinvestigate materials.

A parallel type of excavation is performed into his personal history through the inclusion of wood pieces from his mother’s barn, which was disassembled after her death and shipped from New Freedom, Pennsylvania, to Los Angeles. The REIFS' scale give them an approachable quality, and the makeshift, hand-assembled components point to the ingredients of craft and transformation that run throughout Ruby's exhibition.

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937., 2022
Wood and paint
222.3 × 63.5 × 19.7 cm
87 1/2 × 25 × 7 3/4 inches

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Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937., 2022
Wood and paint
222.3 × 63.5 × 19.7 cm
87 1/2 × 25 × 7 3/4 inches

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937., 2022
Wood and paint
222.3 × 63.5 × 19.7 cm
87 1/2 × 25 × 7 3/4 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937. (detail)

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937. (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937. (detail)

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937. (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937. (detail)

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937. (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937., 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby
REIF. 7937., 2022 (scale image)

Details
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1 of 1

A parallel type of excavation is performed into his personal history through the inclusion of wood pieces from his mother’s barn, which was disassembled after her death and shipped from New Freedom, Pennsylvania, to Los Angeles. The REIFS' scale give them an approachable quality, and the makeshift, hand-assembled components point to the ingredients of craft and transformation that run throughout Ruby's exhibition.

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

 

The FLOWERS echo native California species such as daisies and sunflowers, and paired with Ruby's lustrous metallic glazes, they point to ornamental traditions from antiquity to the present. Yet these signifiers of nature and beauty are punctured at their center with the artist's quick, stabbing gestures.

 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7944), 2022
Ceramic
75.9 × 27.6 × 6.4 cm
29 7/8 × 10 7/8 × 2 1/2 inches

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Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7944), 2022
Ceramic
75.9 × 27.6 × 6.4 cm
29 7/8 × 10 7/8 × 2 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7944), 2022
Ceramic
75.9 × 27.6 × 6.4 cm
29 7/8 × 10 7/8 × 2 1/2 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7944), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7944), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7944), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7944), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7944), 2022 (scale image)

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7944), 2022 (scale image)

Details
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Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7935), 2022
Ceramic
70.8 × 43.8 × 5.4 cm
27 7/8 × 17 1/4 × 2 1/8 inches

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Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7935), 2022
Ceramic
70.8 × 43.8 × 5.4 cm
27 7/8 × 17 1/4 × 2 1/8 inches

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7935), 2022
Ceramic
70.8 × 43.8 × 5.4 cm
27 7/8 × 17 1/4 × 2 1/8 inches

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7935), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7935), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7935), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7935), 2022 (detail)

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7935), 2022

Sterling Ruby
FLOWER (7935), 2022

Details
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The show title, an imagistic collection of references to these distinct bodies of work, creates a sense of continuity within Ruby’s exploration—existing upon a singular plane, these pieces are punctuated only by each other. IN WARM SHROUD. KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. A FROST WINDOW. maps many of the fundamental questions with which Ruby’s art grapples, offering viewers diverse inroads into his multifaceted work.

 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Installation shots 1, 2 and 4 by Timo Ohler
Installation shots 3, 5, 6 and 7 by Ingo Kniest

 

Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WAS WAR WON, IN SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE, 2022
Silkscreen Print on Paper
70 × 50 cm
27 5/8 × 19 3/4 inches

To address the current humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Sterling Ruby has created the open edition WAS WAR WON, IN SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE to display in Sprüth Magers Window.

All proceeds will be donated to Be an Angel e.V., an organization working to
evacuate refugees from Ukraine.
 
The posters can be purchased at the gallery.

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Details
Sterling Ruby – IN WARM SHROUD. – KISSING THE BLOOM CRUX. – A FROST WINDOW. – Berlin

Sterling Ruby
WAS WAR WON, IN SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE, 2022
Silkscreen Print on Paper
70 × 50 cm
27 5/8 × 19 3/4 inches

Sterling Ruby
WAS WAR WON, IN SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE, 2022
Silkscreen Print on Paper
70 × 50 cm
27 5/8 × 19 3/4 inches

Details
icon_fullscreen
1 of 1

To address the current humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Sterling Ruby has created the open edition WAS WAR WON, IN SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE to display in Sprüth Magers Window.

All proceeds will be donated to Be an Angel e.V., an organization working to
evacuate refugees from Ukraine.
 
The posters can be purchased at the gallery.