“I use many different media as a kind of schizophrenic labor strategy,” says the artist Sterling Ruby, whose multifaceted oeuvre—sculpture, ceramics, painting, drawing, collage, video, fabric—can feel a bit all-over-the-place. But, continues Ruby, “this scattered routine belongs within a coherent strategy.” In his WIDW paintings (the acronym is an abbreviation of “window”), which he began in 2016, Ruby brings acrylic and oil paint, plus squares of cardboard and patterned fabrics, together on a canvas, creating a collage that suggests gridded windowpanes. Inspired by lines from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the WIDW paintings in this exhibition invoke day and night, infatuation and magic. —E.C.

Sterling Ruby: That My Nails Can Reach Unto Thine Eyes
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Gagosian / Athens / Art
Gagosian / Athens / Art
Sterling Ruby, “Widw. Knacks. Trifles. Nosegays. Sweetmeats.,” 2020 © Sterling Ruby. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer.
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