For this year’s edition of The Armory Show, Sprüth Magers presents works by Michail Pirgelis, Sterling Ruby and Thomas Ruff. The selection evokes an apocalyptic contemporary landscape, in which feats of industrial engineering, cultural identity, and the media have become materials open to disruption and manipulation. Pirgelis’ minimalist-inspired sculptures incorporate disused aircraft parts, sourced from American scrapyards, that are reworked into compositions whose scuffed and dirtied surfaces belie their histories as machines of luxury aviation. A large fabric wall-work by Ruby consists of distressed fabric and collaged elements; its bright, geometric patterns recall traditional Amish quilts, and American craft culture. Also on show is a large-scale metal sculpture, that reduces the form of the American flag to an empty expanse of corrugated steel. Elsewhere, the source photos for Ruff’s press ++ series derive from national newspapers, magazines, and even NASA archives. Images of spaceships and missiles, framed by the language of the Cold War and space race, are clearly political, while also alluding to his interest in astrology. Furthermore, the redistribution and rearchiving of the photographic image, a core premise in Ruff’s practice, contributes to contemporary discourse around the presentation of truth and integrity within the mass media.
Location
711 12th Avenue at 55th Street
Hours
Thursday, March 2: 12–8pm
Friday, March 3: 12–8pm
Saturday, March 4: 12–7pm
Sunday, March 5: 12–6pm