The Miami Design District, in collaboration with the de la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space, is pleased to announce the second edition of the Miami Design District & de La Cruz Collection Lecture Series, an evening lecture with artist Sterling Ruby. The talk will take place on Thursday, March 19, 2015 with doors opening at 6:30 pm and lecture beginning promptly at 7:30 pm.
Sterling Ruby works in a large variety of media including ceramics, painting, collage and video. His profile as an artist on the global stage has continued to rise in the years since art critic Roberta Smith of The New York Times in 2008 called him "one of the most interesting artists to emerge in the twentieth century."
The artist has cited a diverse range of sources and influences including aberrant psychologies (particularly schizophrenia and paranoia), urban gangs and graffiti, hip-hop culture, craft, punk, masculinity, violence, public art, prisons, globalization, American domination and decline, waste and consumption. His voracious cycling through materials and subject matter has given rise to recurring series and extended bodies of work.
Ruby's work is collected by numerous international collections, including the de la Cruz Collection, Miami; the Craig Robins Collection, Miami; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami: Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris and Tate Modern, London.
Miami Design District & de La Cruz Collection Lecture Series is a cultural initiative that aims to present the public with a curated series of lectures by distinguished artists, curators, critics and cultural figures actively influencing artistic discourse and production. This program provides platform for individuals to create a personal dialogue with various art figures.. The first lecture in the series happened in October 2014 with Jeffrey Deitch – curator of the exhibition "The Painting Factory" at the Museum of Contemporary, Los Angeles (2012) –, who spoke about the advancement of image making through the use of technology
Completed in December of 2009, the de la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space is privately funded by Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz. Serving as an extension of their home where the de la Cruz’s shared their collection with the public for over 25 years, the primary purpose of this space is to provide education and awareness in the visual arts. Educational programming includes lectures, artist-led workshops, docent-led tours, scholarship opportunities and student travel initiatives.
In an effort to create a cross-disciplinary platform for artists and audiences, the de la Collection has organized multiple exhibitions, provided artist residencies, as well as, collaborated with multiple institutions. The de la Cruz Collection is open throughout the year, Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm and is accessible to the public at no cost. The de la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space is not a foundation, is not registered as a 501(c)(3) under the US Internal Revenue Code and does not receive Governmental assistance.
The Miami Design District is a neighborhood dedicated to innovative fashion, design, art, architecture and dining experiences. The Miami Design District is owned by Miami Design District Associates, a partnership between Dacra, founded and owned by visionary entrepreneur Craig Robins, and L Real Estate, a global real estate development and investment fund specializing in creating luxury shopping destinations. Together, Dacra and L Real Estate have actively transformed the once-overlooked area of Miami into a vibrant destination for residents and visitors by presenting the best shopping, cultural and culinary experiences within an architecturally significant context. The Miami Design District embodies a singular dedication to the unity of design, fashion, art and architecture and a commitment to encourage a neighborhood comprised of creative experiences including public art installations by Buckminster Fuller, Zaha Hadid, John Baldessari, Marc Newson, Konstantin Grcic, Xavier Veilhan, 2x4 among others.
