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Lot Essay
Executed in 2010, Alabaster SR10-9 is a richly textural example of Sterling Ruby’s on-going abstract explorations of colour. Hues of tawny brown, taupe and cream merge upon the surface, creating spontaneous, fluid shapes, with dramatic visual effect. In a celebration of artistic freedom and potential, Ruby’s colours merge to create spontaneous, fluid shapes and a rippling, dynamic surface. In contrast to the spray-painted canvases inspired by the urban surroundings of Ruby’s Los Angeles studio, the surface of the present work recalls earthly textures, such as ancient rock formations, intricate layers created by natural forces, or even marble.
Over the past decade, the artist has emerged as a powerful force within 21st century artistic production, working across a wide range of media, from painting to installation and from video to sculpture. In producing Alabaster SR 10-9, an alluring work that takes on the quality of an ancient trompe l’oeil, he has pushed his practice to new technically-challenging levels.
In Alabaster SR 10-9, Ruby updates the emotive, gestural quality found in the work of the Abstract Expressionists to create a unique surface texture. The artist himself said that ‘Everything I do holds a kind of gesture in it. For me, it’s this kind of dramatic gesture. A truncated gesture. It’s like an expression that was at one point very fervent and then it just gets kind of stopped’ (S. Ruby quoted in’ Interview with Hans-Maarten’ in Utopia Parkway, 10 December 2009). In the undulating forms upon the canvas, a captivating aura emerges, a dazzling play with surface texture as Ruby harnesses his medium and exploits its potential. As the artist has commented, ‘it’s interesting to see how beauty is represented and how different takes on beauty can be so dichotomous and different. I like to think about art as being similar to poetry: it can’t be proven. It just exists and there’s an aura about it that people get or don’t get’ (S. Ruby, quoted in ‘Interview with Hans-Maarten’ in Utopia Parkway, 10 December 2009).
Over the past decade, the artist has emerged as a powerful force within 21st century artistic production, working across a wide range of media, from painting to installation and from video to sculpture. In producing Alabaster SR 10-9, an alluring work that takes on the quality of an ancient trompe l’oeil, he has pushed his practice to new technically-challenging levels.
In Alabaster SR 10-9, Ruby updates the emotive, gestural quality found in the work of the Abstract Expressionists to create a unique surface texture. The artist himself said that ‘Everything I do holds a kind of gesture in it. For me, it’s this kind of dramatic gesture. A truncated gesture. It’s like an expression that was at one point very fervent and then it just gets kind of stopped’ (S. Ruby quoted in’ Interview with Hans-Maarten’ in Utopia Parkway, 10 December 2009). In the undulating forms upon the canvas, a captivating aura emerges, a dazzling play with surface texture as Ruby harnesses his medium and exploits its potential. As the artist has commented, ‘it’s interesting to see how beauty is represented and how different takes on beauty can be so dichotomous and different. I like to think about art as being similar to poetry: it can’t be proven. It just exists and there’s an aura about it that people get or don’t get’ (S. Ruby, quoted in ‘Interview with Hans-Maarten’ in Utopia Parkway, 10 December 2009).