Sous Les Etoiles Gallery is thrilled to present “Cimarron”, Max Ruiz first solo show in New York.
Please join us Thursday May 13th for the opening reception from 6-9 pm, with the artist in attendance.
Max Ruiz will sign copies of “Cimarron”, a book published for the occasion of the exhibition by Sous Les Etoiles Gallery.
We are located at 560 Broadway between Prince & Spring street in Soho.
Please be so kind to click here to RSVP
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK – May 4, 2010 – The series Cimarrón by Max Ruiz will be on view at Sous Les Etoiles Gallery from May 13 through June 26, 2010. This is Max Ruiz’s first solo exhibition in New York. There will be an opening reception on May 13th from 6-9 pm at the gallery with the artist in attendance.
Cimarrón, the Spanish term for Maroon, meaning feral or fugitive, is a series of allegorical photographs that traces the history of runaway black slaves in the Caribbean. An imaginary tale escapes within his pictures, testifying to a poignant, often overlooked reality.
When Ruiz was on a trip to Martinique several years ago, he came across a book on Maroons. He says, “After reading it, my view of the Caribbean changed. It was as if I was receiving a message from centuries ago, which I understood to be this: There is no force stronger than the desire to be free.”
With his pictures, Ruiz is a storyteller. “I make fables,” he says. “I like providing the opportunity to share visions. I believe that some of these visions are given to me. They pass through me like water, just like the roots of a tree passes through the leaves.”
In Cimarrón, Ruiz not only connects his past with the Maroons, but his images unite the stories of anyone who has ever been enslaved. His photographs bring to mind François Makandal, Rey Bayano, Nyanga, and Gabriel Prosser- all heroes capable of defeating, defeating or attempting to defeat their oppressors. In their efforts of defiance and by creating new lives and new histories, these Maroons become an invisible part of the landscape, like the thick woven vines, ferns, tree trunks and leaves of the forest – symbols of outlaws defending justice and freedom.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Born in Buenos Aires in 1950, Max Ruiz grew up between two cultures. His Argentinean father was a theater director and his mother served in the French embassy in France. As a teenager, his studies focused on the arts at the Fine Arts School and Pan American Art, both in Buenos Aires. In the 1970s, the military junta was about to take power in Argentina. Ruiz says: “It was a violent period. Daily life was punctuated by raids of various secret police, the informers, inflation. The future seemed stuck there.” So in 1974, he flew to France to study film at the École Supérieure d’Études Cinématographiques (ESEC) in Paris. Over the course of 20 years, Max Ruiz’s work has been exhibited all over Europe, South America, and in the United States, including Centre National de la Photographie (Paris), Les Rencontres d’Arles (Arles), and FotoFest (Houston). In addition to his photography, Ruiz also directs music videos.
Press Contact: Corinne Tapia, Gallery Director, corinne@souslesetoilesgallery.net
NEW YORK – May 4, 2010 – The series Cimarrón by Max Ruiz will be on view at Sous Les Etoiles Gallery from May 13 through June 26, 2010. This is Max Ruiz’s first solo exhibition in New York. There will be an opening reception on May 13th from 6-9 pm at the gallery with the artist in attendance.
Cimarrón, the Spanish term for Maroon, meaning feral or fugitive, is a series of allegorical photographs that traces the history of runaway black slaves in the Caribbean. An imaginary tale escapes within his pictures, testifying to a poignant, often overlooked reality.
When Ruiz was on a trip to Martinique several years ago, he came across a book on Maroons. He says, “After reading it, my view of the Caribbean changed. It was as if I was receiving a message from centuries ago, which I understood to be this: There is no force stronger than the desire to be free.”
With his pictures, Ruiz is a storyteller. “I make fables,” he says. “I like providing the opportunity to share visions. I believe that some of these visions are given to me. They pass through me like water, just like the roots of a tree passes through the leaves.”
In Cimarrón, Ruiz not only connects his past with the Maroons, but his images unite the stories of anyone who has ever been enslaved. His photographs bring to mind François Makandal, Rey Bayano, Nyanga, and Gabriel Prosser- all heroes capable of defeating, defeating or attempting to defeat their oppressors. In their efforts of defiance and by creating new lives and new histories, these Maroons become an invisible part of the landscape, like the thick woven vines, ferns, tree trunks and leaves of the forest – symbols of outlaws defending justice and freedom.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Born in Buenos Aires in 1950, Max Ruiz grew up between two cultures. His Argentinean father was a theater director and his mother served in the French embassy in France. As a teenager, his studies focused on the arts at the Fine Arts School and Pan American Art, both in Buenos Aires. In the 1970s, the military junta was about to take power in Argentina. Ruiz says: “It was a violent period. Daily life was punctuated by raids of various secret police, the informers, inflation. The future seemed stuck there.” So in 1974, he flew to France to study film at the École Supérieure d’Études Cinématographiques (ESEC) in Paris. Over the course of 20 years, Max Ruiz’s work has been exhibited all over Europe, South America, and in the United States, including Centre National de la Photographie (Paris), Les Rencontres d’Arles (Arles), and FotoFest (Houston). In addition to his photography, Ruiz also directs music videos.
Press Contact: Corinne Tapia, Gallery Director, corinne@souslesetoilesgallery.net
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