Kris Ruhs works in the illuminating light of true inspiration. A strong ability to bring out the expressive potential of structure, of material, and of color combined with keen sensitivity to the graphic aspect of form and surface allow him to successfully cross the usual boundaries between sculpture and painting, painting and drawing, and abstraction and representation.
As Kris Ruhs himself says, "I get ideas from materials, especially pieces of wood", the pieces of wood are totally tranformed, cut, carved into, painted over, and even burned to make them into surfaces and shapes that carry deep, metaphorical weights.
Untitled Theatre 1986
This catalogue is an hand-painted program printed for the installation piece "Untitled Theatre" at Richard Green Gallery in 1987, folded into the shape of an accordian.
In this show Ruhs featured a variety of work in different mediums (150 drawings, 16 set masquettes, moveable toys, hand puppets) and turned the gallery into a proper theatre for his Performing Characters.
There was a little stage where the audience could act out their own plays with members of the cast like the Accordian Player, the Saxophonist, the Performing Dog, the Tumbling Characters, the Magician and more. This wooden toys were jointed at shoulders, waist and knees so that they could perform their intended act when manipulated.
Numbered edition of 300 copies
Hand-colored and signed by the artist
Printed on 80 lb. Centura Cover
Published by Richard Green Gallery
Boxes 1991
Catalogue printed for the exhibition "Boxes”
November 20th – December 31st 1991
Galleria Carla Sozzani
Numbered edition of 500 copies
Designed by Claudio Dell’Olio
Printed by Nava web spa, Milan, 1991
15 pages, 16x15 cm
15 illustrations
ISBN 978 88 7942 473-8
One room 1991
Numbered edition of 1000 copies
Designed by Claudio dell’Olio
Printed by Nava web spa. Milan, 1991
16 pages – 16 x 15 cm
11 illustrations
Necklaces 1992 - 1993
The catalogue focuses on the production of necklaces by Kris Ruhs from 1991 to 1994: his creativity found a proper inspiration in the craftsmanship of jewels, for the production of which he uses silver, often tightened with rope and ebony: this metal is in fact easily workable, allowing the artist to produce intricate designs. The selected pieces are presented with the original drawings that always precede their creation.
Numbered edition of 600 copies
Photographs by Ilvio Gallo
Designed by Claudio Dell’Olio
Printed by Nava web spa, Milan, 1994
18 pages – 16x15 cm
16 illustrations
ISBN 978 88 7942 571-1
Paper on Paper 1994
“Paper on Paper” collects the series of relieves by Kris Ruhs from 1994.
The elegant three-dimensionality of these works is visible in the choice of using just black and white and in the ephemeral quality of their structures. Having a closer look, one is caught by the delicateness of their execution and the infinity of details that distinguish each one of them.
Catalogue printed for the exhibition "Paper on paper”
1st – 31st December 1994
Galleria Carla Sozzani
Numbered edition of 500 copies
Designed by Claudio Dell’Olio
Printed by Nava web spa, Milan 1994
16 pages – 16x15 cm
11 illustrations
ISBN 978 88 7942 572-8
Necklaces 1999
“Neclaces 1999” is the catalogue of fine jewellery created by artist Kris Ruhs between 1994 and 1999. Like many great artists did during their lives, Kris Ruhs measures his creativity once again in the craftsmanship of precious ornaments, confirming necklaces as his favourite accessory. The artist goes back on his preferred designs to further develop them in new and even more elaborated ways. Silver is still the privileged metal, with its final polishing that exalts the elegant and harmonious designers.
Numbered edition of 600 copies
Photographs by Ilvio Gallo
Designed by Claudio Dell’Olio
Printed by Nava web spa, Milan, 1999
28 pages – 16x15 cm
29 illustrations
ISBN 978 88 7942 777 – 7
Oil on Paper & Collages 1999 - 2000
Kris Ruhs has been describing in his drawings the lost millennium of mankind: a time when myths ought to explain what science and knowledge could not and would never be able to. Those myths were the consolation of every human being in every corner of the world, and still lay within each one of us since man leaned out for the first time to admire the wonders of Creation. Nightmares, dreams, hopes come together with the faceless and evanescent figure of destiny to take form in Kris Ruhs’ artworks.
Numbered edition of 1000 copies
Designed by Claudio Dell’Olio
Printed by Nava web spa, Milan, 2007
66 pages – 30x40 cm
39 illustrations
ISBN 978 88 7942 845-3
Works on paper 2006
Throughout his entire artistic research, paper has always been an important media for Kris Ruhs. The catalogue offers to the viewer a wide selection of techniques used by Ruhs, going through over ten years of production in which the artist used alternatively paint, graphite or mixed media on paper. Paper can be shaped, juxtaposed, shredded or glued on surfaces: it will always absorb the media intended to be used, letting the artist’s expression emerge on its rough surface. Ruhs has also been experimenting his most interesting installations with paper, building scenarios that would transform entire places with poetic fragility.
Numbered edition of 2000 copies
Photographs by Vanni Burkhart,
Lorenzo Camocardi, Ilvio Gallo, Kasskara,
Barbara Kazs, Douglas Kirkland, Armin Linke, James Merrel
Designed by Claudio Dell’Olio
Printed by Nava web spa, Milan 2006
276 pages – 30,5x30 cm
245 illustrations
ISBN 978 88 7942 844-6
Ceramics 2006
The catalogue features the production of ceramics by Kris Ruhs from 1999 to 2005, exploring the different designs that characterize his handicrafts over the years. These objects, or different sizes and shapes, are the natural extension of Ruhs three dimensional works, and testify the profound research that the artist is bringing on since he was student at the School of Visual Art in New York. Black and white photographs by Vanni Burkhart catch the harmony of these creations and the poetry of their details; an appendix of eight photographs also unveils the artist in his studio practice, giving to the public a better idea of the intensity of these creations.
Numered edition of 1000 copies
Photographs by Vanni Burkhart
Designed by Claudio dell’Olio
Printed by Nava web spa. Milan, 2006
114 pages – 24,5 x 26 cm
104 illustrations
ISBN 978 88 7942 843-9
Jewellery 2010
Kris Ruhs has been designing jewellery since 1976. Over these years, Kris Ruhs crafted more than 1200 unique pieces between necklaces, earrings and rings. For many reasons, his creations can rightly be defined as sculptural jewels: their aesthetic, the craftsmanship involved their uniqueness make them like wearable art. Coherent with this definition, each piece is hand made by the artist and is never intended to be produced on large scale. “Jewellery” is a two volumes publication that depicts well the process of creation involved and includes the original drawings that precede the design of the jewels. “Ebony”, the first volume of this publication, overviews the early production of jewels with ebony and ropes: wood is hand carved and patiently inserted piece by piece into lines of macrame' rope to create elaborate designs. Rope and wood are sometimes put near silver or brass: more rarely they are used together with gold. “Silver” is the second volume and goes through the creation of jewels in silver and gold; like in “Ebony”, Ruhs shows to approach jewellery as an art form and a natural appendix of his large scale of works. Here, Ruhs’s jewels remind the patterns and structures of his “labyrinth” sculptures: bent and twisted wire, composing the wall of these installations, become the simple and rough source of inspiration to create precious and unique objects.
Numbered edition of 1000 copies in two volumes:
“Ebony” and “Silver”
Photographs by Vanni Burkhart and Ilvio Gallo
Printed by Nava web spa, Milan, 2009
“Ebony”
210 pages – 30x24 cm
Illustrations
ISBN 978 88 794246-0
Landing on Earth 2012
Landing on Earth by Kris Ruhs documents the environmental exhibition by Kris Ruhs that inhabitated the Wapping Space in London during the London Design Festival in 2012. The entry installation was an 11 meter by 4.5 meter veil of metal through which shards of light and space can be seen. This visual separation shattered the unity of the Boiler house’s volume and allowed the audience to carve out what he might see. The second installation, in the center, was a series of 240 raku ceramic trees illuminated and suspended from the ceiling. Sitting below it, lied the “bowl of heaven”, a highly polished rotating seat that allows the visitor to spin around, looking up or down into the suspended forest.
Numbered edition of 500 copies
Landing on Earth Catalogue printed for the exhibition "The Wapping Project"
Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, London
Carla Sozzani Editore
Designed by Claudio Dell’Olio & Alessandro Marchesi
Printed by Nava Press spa, Milan
44 pages - 31 x 40,5 cm
38 Illustrations
ISBN 978 88 79428521
Hanging Garden 2015
HANGING GARDEN by Kris Ruhs
Essay by Donatien Grau
1000 numbered copies
English text designed by Claudio dell’Olio
The catalogue features the production of ceramics by Kris Ruhs from 1999 to 2005, exploring the different designs that characterize his handicrafts over the years. These objects, or different sizes and shapes, are the natural extension of Ruhs three dimensional works, and testify the profound research that the artist is bringing on since he was student at the School of Visual Art in New York. Black and white photographs by Vanni Burkhart catch the harmony of these creations and the poetry of their details; an appendix of eight photographs also unveils the artist in his studio practice, giving to the public a better idea of the intensity of these creations.
Numered edition of 1000 copies
Photographs by Vanni Burkhart
Designed by Claudio dell’Olio
Printed by Nava web spa. Milan, 2006
114 pages – 24,5 x 26 cm
104 illustrations
ISBN 978 88 7942 843-9
