Bonniers Konsthall presents Sterling Ruby. Soft Work on view thrugh March 17, 2013.
Sterling Ruby, Soft Work. Installation view, Bonniers Konsthall, 2012. Photo: Olle Kirchmeier.
Bonniers Konsthall presents the first major solo exhibition in Scandinavia by American artist Sterling Ruby. Working in a variety of materials and genres, Ruby’s practice encompasses everything from glazed ceramics, spray-painted canvases, bronze casts and collages, inspired by such tangential topics as the American prison system, consumerism and contemporary architecture. The exhibition Soft Work is at first glance playful, soft and humorous, but in time reveals dimensions of danger and terror. Ruby transforms materials such as cushions and blankets into sinister sculptural objects where safety and security prove to be an illusion. Here, for example, gaping vampire mouths are covered in brightly colored textiles or patterned with star-spangled banners, and giant blood and teardrops hang like cadavers from the ceiling.
Soft Work is organized in collaboration with the Centre d’Art Contemporain, Genéva, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims and MACRO, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome. In every presentation of Soft Work new elements are added. For Bonniers Konsthall, Ruby has created two new sculptural forms: Stockholm Butterfly and Stockholm Wolf.
Program
January 9 at 6pm
Screening of The Cool School by Morgan Neville.
January 23 at 6pm
“Surfer Aesthetics: on LA Trash & Treasure.” Lecture by Liv Stoltz, curator and writer.
February 6 at 6pm
“Graffiti and the art scene.” Discussion with Jacob Kimvall, author and art historian, and Jonas Kleerup, gallerist.
February 20 at 6pm
“Who is Sterling Ruby?” Talk by Jörg Heiser, co-editor Frieze Magazine and co-publisher Frieze Magazine d/e.
February 27 at 6pm
“Does material play a role in artist practices today?” Panel discussion with artists Zandra Ahl and Olav Westphalen.
March 13 at 6pm
Soft Work. Lecture with Florence Derieux, director of the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, and curator of Soft Work at FRAC.
Bonniers Konsthall
Torsgatan 19
SE-113 90 Stockholm
Sweden
www.bonnierskonsthall.se