Sterling Ruby

Gagosian is pleased to present THE MOUNTAIN, an exhibition of new works by Sterling Ruby. In dialogue with the Romantic tradition of the sublime, Ruby explores themes of germination, birth, growth, and decay, drawing upon the physical and metaphysical cycles of life. Intimately rooted in the artist’s time in California’s Eastern Sierras, these sculptures and paintings are deeply attuned to environmental transformation. On view from July 11 through September 7, the presentation will extend beyond the gallery’s walls, with works installed at locations throughout the historic alpine town of Gstaad.

For the past two years the snowfall has been epic. At the summit of the mountain’s 11,059-foot peak, this season’s snowfall reached a base depth of 154 inches. Because of this, the surrounding lakes have been full of water, the spring flowers blossomed, the summer berries were ripe, and the pine cones that once lay dormant on the ground gave way to new saplings of conifers. I watched this transition in awe of the universal life cycle: that everything and everyone must pass through stages of unworldly contemplation only to be absorbed back into the ground.
—Sterling Ruby, Mammoth Mountain, California, April 2025

In the gallery’s main entry, Ruby presents a monolithic wood burl sculpture adorned with puddled bronze tears. Composed into a naturalist altar, this intricate form can be attributed to the tree’s long history of stress and its struggle to cope with infection. Crying Slab (2025) channels Ruby’s interest in myth and mutation while echoing Surrealist animism to embody themes of trauma, resilience, fragility, and endurance. Incorporating found organic materials with sculpted elements via assemblage and direct casting, this body of work reflects a lineage of Post-Minimalist and Arte Povera strategies, where raw materials retain traces of their past lives.