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Ruby Neri

Biography to Display: 

EDUCATION

1994BFA San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California

1998MFA University of California, Los Angeles, California

APPRENTICESHIPS & RESIDENCIES

2015Artist in Residence, Ceramics, School of Art, College of the Arts, California State University, Long Beach, California
2014Artist in Residence, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

Ceramic Sculptor

BIOGRAPHY

 

Ruby Neri is known for coil-built and mixed media vessels and sculpture. Each coil built piece typically grows out of a vessel form. Many of Neri’s vessels retain classic vessel elements, for example, single or double pouring handles.

The vessel form may be attenuated with its bulging surfaces emphasized with line art depicting the stylized female with exaggerated features. The surface technique is quickly executed in fine black line drawing and a very colorful surface decoration inspired by graffiti. Early work was painted post-firing with oil paints. Large-scale abstract and human form sculptures utilize a heavy application of color and lack the fine black line detail. Some sculptures stand on the floor while others, as high as 3 to 4-feet, sit on pedestals. Neri also produced monumental architectural sculptures.

 Neri created a large body of work using a spray painted or airbrushed glazed surface technique. The use of spray-painted surfaces may come from Neri’s experiencing graffiti on buildings in San Francisco in the early 2000s. Often Neri’s work is mixed media employing wood or plaster legs with clay torsos.

Neri began her creative career as a painter.

Public Collections

Public Collections to Display: 

Rubell Family Collection, Miami, Florida

Bibliography

Bibliography to Display: 

Buckley, Annie. “Made in LA.” Art in America (September 14, 2012).

Deitch, Jeffrey. “Full Immersion.” Architectural Digest (December 2017).

“Earthly Delight.” Architectural Digest (September 2017).

Johnson, Ken. “Prickly but Puppyish in San Francisco.” The New York Times, April 25, 2014.

Knight, Christopher. “Art review: The Hammer Biennial ‘Made in L.A. 2012′ Succeeds.” Los Angeles Times, June 8, 2012.

Lilley Clare. Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramic in Contemporary Art. London, England and New York, NY: Phaidon, 2017.

Miles, Christopher. “Ruby Neri.” LA Weekly, July 22, 2009.

Neri, Ruby.  http://www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2017/november/01/ruby-neri-why-i-create.

Ollman, Leah. “Female Sculptors, Full of Humor and Verve Prove to be Way More Than ‘All Right’.” LosAngelesTimes.com, April 23, 2016.

Porter, Jenelle. Slaves and Humans. Los Angeles, CA: David Kordansky Gallery, 2017.

Saltz, Jerry. “Homunculi.” New York Magazine, July 2010.

Smith, Roberta. “Art? Life? Must We Choose?” The New York Times, July 2, 2010.

                            . “Midtown’: That Chair’s Charming, but Can I Sit in It?” The New York Times, May 26, 2017.

Soto, Paul. http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/news/ruby-neri-david-kordansky-hammer-made-in-la/, August 3, 2012.

Whitney, Kathleen, “Ruby Neri: Made in L.A,” Ceramics Monthly (November 2012).

 

 

Typical Marks
2015-2016
Female Vessel
Date: 2015-2016
Form: Sculpture
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Hand-Built
Surface Technique: Paint
From Funk to Punk, Everson Museum of Art, 2017
Photo: TMP
From Funk to Punk, Everson Museum of Art, 2017
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP

Citation: Clark, Donald. "The Marks Project." Last modified April 13, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/neri