Sterling Ruby: 2Traps

At Pace Wildenstein
Published by Gallery Crawl, February 26, 2010

Sterling Ruby is a contemporary artist with an impressive repertoire. In a New York Times article, critics Roberta Smith, Ken Johnson, and Karen Rosenberg described Ruby as “one of the most interesting artists to emerge in this century.” His current show at PaceWildenstein certainly supports this claim.

Walking into the gallery, I instantly noticed the smell emanating from the steel sculptures. “2Traps” consists of two monumental sculptures that look like freight containers titled Bus and Pig Pen. Bus is a vehicle turned ready-made sculpture while Pig Pen is composed of stacked cage-like cubbies, all but one sealed shut. Both sculptures are overbearing in their size, material, color, and yet invite one to enter.