Sterling Ruby

site-specific | permanent artwork

Lantern (3)

2024
Sand casting of aluminum, glass, 70 x 120 cm

Sterling Ruby works with a wide range of media, including  ceramics, painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, video, and  textiles. His works, in contrast to the minimalist artistic  tradition and influenced by the ubiquity of urban graffiti,  often appear scratched, defaced, camouflaged, dirty, or  splattered.  

LANTERN by Sterling Ruby was expressly conceived  by the artist for the entrance of Palazzo Diedo. It is an  edition of hanging lamps that pays homage to those  that have illuminated the narrow streets and alleys of  Venice since the 12th century. The metal frameworks  were forged using a life-sized maquette constructed  with waste materials from his studio and scrap wood,  

while the panels were made with streaked red glass, in  tribute to another ancient Venetian tradition. While the  original model was hastily put together, the molds are the  result of a meticulous process blending traditional and  contemporary production methods. 

Courtesy of the artist and Sterling Ruby Studio

temporary artwork

Window of Declinism 1
Window of Declinism 2

2024
Fabric, yarn, fishing nets, buoys, hardware, 622,3 x 439,4 x 17,8 cm, 617,2 x 388,6 x 21,6 cm

The compositions of the tapestries WINDOW of Declinism  1 and WINDOW of Declinism 2 continue the artist’s  exploration of existential questions in relation to the  painterly gesture and conventional ways of seeing, akin to  peering through a metaphorical window. 

Assembled over years of fabric collecting and research  into the history of once widespread crafts, the works  feature Venetian fishing nets, “necklaces” of buoys from  a Burano family, and discarded electronic components,  creating an intricate sky-to-ground crinoline with a  vaguely romantic and nostalgic flavor. 

Courtesy of the artist and Sterling Ruby Studio