AMY CUTLER
NEW ACQUISITIONS

The surreal work of artist Amy Cutler will be the subject of an exhibition at Ruby City from April 6, 2023, through February 25, 2024. At the center of the exhibition will be Cutler’s interactive, multi-media installation Fossa (2015), a recent gift from the artist. Cutler is known for her finely detailed paintings, drawings and prints of women working at domestic or mysterious tasks in intimate, magical settings, and Fossa creates the experience of walking into one of her works. Also included in the exhibition will be Cutler’s large drawing of the same name, acquired by Ruby City earlier this year, along with a selection of loaned works from two other series. Amy Cutler (working title) will be on view in Studio, in Chris Park on Ruby City’s campus.

Amy Cutler, Fossa, 2016. Graphite on paper, 55 ¼ x 47 in. Courtesy of Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects.

Cutler created Fossa for SITE Santa Fe in 2015. It was made in collaboration with musician Emily Wells and the hair stylist Adriana Papaleo. Visitors enter a room that resembles an old-fashioned parlor with patterned wallpaper, from and into which emanates a “hive” constructed from yards of braided synthetic human hair, bundles of textiles, antique wooden spools and other materials. Ambient sound, composed by Wells and made by extracting and layering sounds of breaths from intimate conversations among friends, surrounds the viewers who wear headphones to interact with the multitrack composition. More than 800 feet of braided human and synthetic hair descend from the ceiling and stretch into the gallery.

The accompanying drawing depicts female figures living and working in hollowed out tree trunks—bathing, sleeping, braiding hair, and playing music. Cutler discusses the drawing as akin to a metaphorical “key” giving further context to the figures revealing their activities and larger setting.

About the artist

Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1974, Amy Cutler lives and works in New York. She has had solo exhibitions at numerous national and international venues, including Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska; The Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland; Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia; Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach; Art, Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara, California; Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia; Museo Nacional Reina Sofía, Madrid; and Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana. Her work is in the collections of Art, Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara, California; Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Hallmark Collection, Kansas City, Missouri; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Indianapolis Museum of Art; JP Morgan Chase, New York; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; New York Public Library, New York; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; The Menil Collection, Houston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.

About Ruby City

Ruby City is a contemporary art center in San Antonio, TX, dedicated to providing a space for the city’s thriving creative community to experience works by both local and internationally-acclaimed artists. Envisioned in 2007 by the late collector, philanthropist and artist Linda Pace, Ruby City presents works from the Linda Pace Foundation Collection of more than 1400 paintings, sculptures, installations and video works. The new building, designed by renowned architect Sir David Adjaye OBE, is part of a campus, which also includes Chris Park, a one-acre public green space named in memory of Pace’s son, and Studio, an auxiliary exhibition space which presents curated shows and programming throughout the year.

Ruby City is open Thursday through Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Admission is free; advance reservations are recommended. Information and reservations are available at www.rubycity.org.