Parigi, 19 giugno 2025 – Il MaMo di Ora Ïto, piattaforma d’arte contemporanea della Cité Radieuse di Le Corbusier, a Marsiglia, presenta dal 27 giugno al 28 settembre 2025 un’installazione composta da un’importante scultura e un dipinto di Sterling Ruby, che in passato è stato raramente esposto al pubblico.
STERLING RUBY A MARSIGLIA
In preparazione da dieci anni, questo evento è il coronamento di una iniziativa, lo sviluppo di un progetto che unisce la monumentale scultura di Ruby, Double Candle (2018) con il suo più grande dipinto a spruzzo, Wall (2017). La mostra pone dunque le opere maggiormente significative dell’artista americano nato a Bitburg, in Germania, in un dialogo straordinario con una delle realizzazioni architettoniche più radicali del XX secolo. La critica lo ha sovente descritto come «uno degli artisti più interessanti di questo secolo», in particolare Roberta Smith, dalle colonne del quotidiano “New York Times”, ne ha sottolineato l’ampiezza e l’urgenza della sua pratica. Per Ruby, artista di Los Angeles il cui lavoro esplora da tempo la trasformazione dei materiali, le strutture sociali e l’ambiente costruito, questa mostra rappresenta una rara opportunità di entrare in contatto profondo con il patrimonio culturale e simbolico della Cité Radieuse, sito del patrimonio mondiale Unesco.
STERLING RUBY AT MAMO BY ORA ÏTO
ART CENTER OF THE CITÉ RADIEUSE OF MARSEILLE
Sterling Ruby at MaMo by Ora Ïto, Art Center of The Cité Radieuse of Marseille: June 27 – September 28, 2025; MaMo by Ora Ïto, a contemporary art platform located at Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille, presents from June 27 to September 28, 2025, an installation consisting of a major sculpture and a rarely exhibited painting by Sterling Ruby. A decade in preparation, this project brings together Ruby’s monumental sculpture Double Candle (2018) and his largest spray-painting, Wall (2017). The exhibition places Ruby’s landmark works into remarkable dialogue with one of the 20th century’s most radical architectural achievements. Ruby has been described by critic Roberta Smith, in The New York Times, as “ one of the most interesting artists of this century, ” underscoring the breadth and urgency of his practice. For Ruby, an artist based in Los Angeles whose work has long explored material transformation, social structures, and the built environment this exhibition presents a rare opportunity to engage deeply with the cultural and symbolic heritage of La Cité Radieuse, a Unesco World Heritage site.
DOUBLE CANDLE
Installed on the rooftop of Le Corbusier’s brutalist «vertical city» Double Candle consists of two bronze forms each over seven meters tall. Originally conceived as soft sculptures made from Polyfleece, the bronze candles retain visible seams and folds from the fabric. The sculpture shares its green-blue patina with oxidized monuments such as the Statue of Liberty, giving the work a serene gravity. Ruby has described the dual forms candles, towers, or sentinels in terms of domestic ritual and collective memory, subtly referencing the Twin Towers of New York and their legacy of loss and resilience. An earlier edition is part of the permanent collection at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. In Marseille, the presentation of this significant sculpture alters its perception by juxtaposing bronze casts made from stuffed textiles with the raw concrete of the brutalist structure. Its undulating form echoes the unique sculptural chimneys of the building, reorienting the symbolism of the beacon toward the city.
WALL
Also on view at MaMo by Ora Ïto is Wall (2017), the largest painting from Ruby’s SP (Spray Painting) series. Spanning over seven meters wide, the canvas comprises layered bands, lines, and drips of diffused colors. The recurring use of the horizon line a formal device that anchors the viewer while the hazy geometries of the composition simultaneously disorient, evokes fences, atmospheric landscapes, or smoggy urban walls. Echoing the tradition of landscape painting, Ruby confronts viewers with a contemporary world in flux, reflecting the lineage of artists who turned to the south of France in the late 19th century such as Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Signac drawn by its unique light and expansive panoramas. However, Ruby’s landscapes are refracted through the lens of urban decay and ecological anxiety, reinterpreting this legacy for the twenty-first century. The artist’s sensitivity to color resonates deeply here, his patinas and atmospheres engage in a visual dialogue with Le Corbusier’s color theory and the polychrome building, in which color is used as a spatial and emotional tool.
THE JUXTAPOSITION
Similar works from the SP series can be found in major public collections, including the Tate in London, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. The juxtaposition of Double Candle and Wall creates an intense conversation with La Cité Radieuse itself, a structure conceived as a model for post-war community living. Ruby’s interventions respond not only to its formal architecture but also to the layered identity of Marseille as a Mediterranean port shaped by movement, memory, and reinvention. In 2013, French designer Ora Ïto founded MaMo (Marseille Modulor) in the former gymnasium perched atop Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille. Designed by Le Corbusier and completed in 1952, La Cité Radieuse is a pioneering model of post-war modernist architecture and urban planning. Conceived as a «vertical city,» the building includes 337 duplex apartments along interior corridors, as well as a school, hotel, shops, and rooftop terrace, integrating daily life into a single structure.
LA CITÉ RADIEUSE
Based on Le Corbusier’s Modulor system, which harmonizes architecture with human proportions, the structure promotes community, functionality, and the union of body and space. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it remains a living monument to radical architectural thought and continues to inspire artists, architects, and urban planners worldwide. MaMo by Ora Ïto has renewed the original spirit of innovation and cultural exchange of the site. Presenting renowned artists such as Daniel Buren, Jean-Pierre Raynaud, and Xavier Veilhan, it has become a cornerstone of Marseille’s cultural scene, connecting the city to the global contemporary art network. The Mountain, an exhibition of new works by Ruby, will be presented at Gagosian Gallery and other venues in Gstaad, Switzerland, from July 11 to September 7. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Gagosian and made possible through the generous support of Zara Home.
STERLING RUBY
Sterling Ruby (b. 1972, American/Dutc) lives and works in Los Angeles. He received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. His multifaceted practice spans sculpture, painting, ceramics, photography, and installation. Ruby’s work is held in numerous museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Tate, London; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas; and Belvedere Museum, Vienna.