Sterling Ruby
b. 1972, Germany
THERMOHALINE, 2016
Acrylic, elastic, treated fabric and cardboard on canvas
320 x 243.8 x 5.1 cm
The title of this artwork is borrowed from the concept of thermohaline circulation, a system of ocean currents that have a large impact on Earth’s climate. As thermohaline circulation is affected by temperature and salt content, the work acts as a form of environmental critique, as its textured redness captures rising temperatures of the ocean as a state of bloodshed. In achieving this effect, THERMOHALINE sees Sterling Ruby’s reflection upon his studio as an “excavation site”, where scattered materials can be reassessed and upcycled into new works. Here, Ruby uses rollers and brooms to spread deep red acrylic paint over unprimed canvas laid directly on the studio ground, allowing impressions of ground created by incidental debris and textures to surface. The choice to attach further materials from his studio onto the canvas such as fabric and cardboard evokes the arrangement of indeterminate topographies, mimicking a cartographic view of the world.
Photo: Melanie Schiff
Sterling Ruby (b. 1972) is a multifaceted American artist who freely moves between the worlds of textile, ceramics, painting, drawing, sculpture-assemblages and digital media. Rejecting minimalist traditions and influenced by urban graffiti, his works are often presented as dense assemblages of various items, appearing damaged and dirty. Ruby draws reference from sources such as psychological illness, urban gang culture, hip-hop culture, the prison system, and globalisation, among other themes across autobiography, art history, and the violence and pressures within society. As such, his works are manic and politically-charged in a way that, according to him, are a “visual description” of the world as he sees and experiences it. Ruby attained his BFA from the School of the Art Institute Chicago, and his MFA from the ArtCenter College of Design. His work resides in public collections including the Guggenheim New York, Whitney Museum of American Art New York, and Tate Modern London.
