ART CITIES:London-Sterling Ruby

In 2008 Sterling Ruby made a pair of jeans and a shirt out of the leftover scraps of fabric from a sculpture he had just finished working on. The pieces quickly became the artist’s studio uniform.Functioning almost ritualistically, each time he finishes an artwork he uses the leftover scraps of canvas, denim and quilting, to create a new, unique, one-off garment as a way to conclude the project.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Sprüth Magers Gallery Archive

 

The exhibition “Work Wear: Garment and Textile archive 2008–2016”   present for the very first time an 8 year survey of the clothing and textile production made by Sterling Ruby. The garments in the exhibition replay, recycle, and echo the remnants of fabrics used to create the artist’s quilts, collages, textiles and sculptures. Through this unique type of recycling, the life of an artwork comes full circle. Although the exhibits have independence of their own, they are actually new beginnings, embodiment of their sculptural ancestors. Sculptures become pieces of clothes. The outcome of Ruby’s creative wandering touches upon the subject of utility and usefulness in art, which directly connects the artist to the Bauhaus way of thinking that puts emphasis on craft and design. The earliest garments on show, a shirt and a pair of jeans, were fashioned from offcuts left over from some soft sculptures. Regarding the outfit as a kind of “Studio camouflage” Ruby repeated the practice with subsequent projects. The clothes on view are also a unique glimpse into the seeds of the artist’s feted collaborations with the fashion designer Raf Simons. In 2007, the artist designed the first Raf Simons store in Tokyo. This led to a capsule denim collection in 2009, and culminated in a full-fledged collaborative collection.

Info: Sprüth Magers London, 7A Grafton Street, London, Duration: 11/3-9/4/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.spruethmagers.com