John Ruppert

John Ruppert was born in 1951 in Winchester, Massachusetts. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and Art Education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and his Master of Fine Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. Ruppert currently lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland. He is chairman of the Department of Art at the University of Maryland, College Park.

In this artist’s work, our surety about the natural order of things, and our place in it, are repeatedly questioned. Operating in a symbolic register, his aesthetic and phenomenological concerns are evidenced in references to organic forms such as pumpkins and gourds. Ruppert’s Pumpkin series, based on a 700-pound pumpkin that he has cast repeatedly, both asserts and defies natural principles. By replacing the pumpkin’s organic shell with industrial materials, he keeps these forms frozen in time, impervious to the effects of gravity, decay, and regeneration. Moreover, his placement of multiple casts at specific sites sets up surreal narratives among identical inanimate objects.

His chain-link vessels operate in a similar oscillation. In their transparency and materials, they evoke artificial boundaries (fences) that are affected by location and orientation, changing with their physical environments. The webbing of these vessels creates an intricately patterned cast shadow. Thereby, the environment plays a significant role in the presentation and interpretation of the sculptural object. In this manner, he successfully contrasts opposed aesthetic and conceptual qualities.

“Natural phenomena play a major role in my sculpture,” Ruppert explains, “making process an integral part of its content. I use a variety of cast metals and chain-link fabric to work out my investigation into the relationship of sculptural form and perception.” His vessels, gourds and pumpkins are transformed by scale and materials into forms that hover between the natural and industrial worlds.

John Ruppert has exhibited internationally in numerous solo exhibitions, and his work has frequented important group shows throughout the world. He is the recipient of many awards including two U.S. Department of State Assistance Awards sponsored by the U.S.Embassy, a Juror’s Award at Baltimore’s Art Scape, as well as several Individual Artist Grants from the Maryland State Arts Council. Commissions he has been awarded include works for the New International Terminal at the Baltimore/Washington Airport, The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore,and the Xerox Corporation in Rochester, New York. Reviews of his work have been published in Art in America, Sculpture, and the New Art Examiner.

BIO/CV

Education

1974
BA, Fine Arts & Art Education, Miami University, Oxford, OH
1977
MFA, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY

Selected One Person Exhibitions

1995
John Ruppert: Drawings and Sculpture, Franz Bader Gallery, Washington, DC
1996
Natural Forces/Urban Context; John Ruppert, a 15-year Survey, Gregory Knight – Curator, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; The Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, VA; Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH
1997
Installation in the Garden, Art et Industrie, New York, NY
1998
Opulence – Cast Sculpture of John Ruppert, Harmony Hall Regional Center, Ft. Washington, MD
1999
John Ruppert – Sculpture on the Grounds, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
2000
John Ruppert – New Works, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2001
John Ruppert in the Courtyard, Davis & Hall Gallery, Hudson, NY
John Ruppert, Crucible, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
2002
John Ruppert, Villa Montalvo Art Center, Saratoga, CA
John Ruppert, Weatherspoon Gallery, Greensboro, NC
2005
John Ruppert, John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY
2007
John Ruppert- New Works, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY
2011
C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2012
John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY
2013
The Iceland Project, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Sandbox Visiting Artist Exhibition, Kohl Gallery, Washington College, Chestertown, MD
2015
John Ruppert: Grounded, Academy of Art Museum, Easton, MD
2017
John Ruppert / Terra Firma, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2019
LAB: Empirical Evidence /John Ruppert, Center for Art Design and Visual Culture, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD (catalogue)

Large – Scale Sculpture Exhibitions

2007-05
Material Terrain, International Arts & Artists
2008
Grimaldis @ 405, Gallery 405, Baltimore, MD
2009
Baker Artist Award Exhibition, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
2009 Bicentennial Exhibition, Miami University, Oxford, OH
2010
Miami Sculpture Biennale, in conjunction with Art Basel Miami, Curator: Ricardo Pau-Llosa, Miami, FL
2010                       Riverside Landscaping, World Expo 2010, Shanghai, China
2010                       Bridge Gardens, Bridge Hampton, NY
2011
Urban Garden, The Rose Kennedy Greenway, Curator: Nick Capasso, Boston, MA
2011 DeCordova Sculpture Park & Museum, Lincoln, MA
2012-10
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
2012
West Lake International Invitational Sculpture Commission and Exhibition, Hangshon, China
2014-15
20^th Anniversary Celebration Exhibition, Kreeger Museum, Washington, D.C.
2014-15
John Ruppert outdoor exhibition, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
2018
The Cary Hill Sculpture Park, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions

2000
East Meets West, Korean Embassy, Washington, DC
Sculpture and the Object, DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park, Boston, MA
ARTSCAPE Annual, City of Baltimore, MD
Representing the Present, Kreeger Museum, Washington, DC
2001
Mixing Realities, Muzeum Okregowe Leona Wyczolkowskiego W Bydgoszczy, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition” (Klein Art Works, Chicago, IL
2002
2300°F-2002: Iron in the 21^st Century, Grounds for Sculpture, Trenton, NJ
Summer Exhibition, Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Laurel, MD
2003
The Pirkkala Municipal Sculpture Park, Pirkkala, Finland
2004
40^th Anniversary Art in Embassies Exhibition, US State Department, Washington, DC
2005
Material Terrain, Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, MO
Inaugural Exhibition, American University, Katzen Museum, Washington, DC
2006
Timespace (Invitational), Pedvale Open Air Art Museum, Pedvale, Latvia
Contemporary Sculpture 2006, Chesterwood Museum, Stockbridge, MA
The Fields, Omi International Art Center, Ghent, NY
Shiftscale, National Museum of Contemporary Art KUMU, Tallinn, Estonia
Pulse 2006, International Arts & Artist & Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC
2007
Modern Dimensions: Contemporary American Sculpture, Eight Modern, Santa Fe, NM
2008
e-forms, Jinse Gallery, Chongqing and Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
2014
International Competition for Digital Art and Photography, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Los Angeles, CA
2015
Dallas Art Fair, C Grimaldis Gallery, Dallas, TX
2016
Top 40, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art International exhibition, Curators – Kathryn Poindexter, California Museum of Photography and Mat Gleason Coagula, Los Angeles, CA
The Third Silk Road International Exhibition, Shaanxi Provincial Museum of Fine Arts, Xian, Shaanxi, China

Professional Experience, Residencies, Grants

1978
Prix de Paris – Raymond Duncan, Galleries Raymond Duncan, Paris
1997, 1995, 1991
Maryland State Arts Council Individual Grant
1998
Department of Art, Chair, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Jurors’ Award, ArtScape, Baltimore, MD
1999
Juror, Designs for the new Dollar Coin, Dept. of the Treasury, Washington, DC
2002
Full Professor, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2004
Art in Embassies Selection
2006
S. Department of State Federal Assistance Award
S. Department of State Travel Award
2012
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award
SIM Artist-in-Residency, Four week residency, Reykjavik, Iceland, (June 2012)
2015
Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Grant, Photography
2017
HYDRA Art-Residencies-Lipari, Two week residency on an archipelago of a volcano islands off of Sicily, Italy
2018
Joshua Tree House Artist Residency, Two week residency, CA
2019
Maryland Catalyst New Direction Fund Research Grant, Office of the VP For Research, University of Maryland
Arctic Circle Artist Residency, Two week residency on a tall ship collaborating with 20 other artists and scientists, visiting the shores and surroundings of island of Svalbard, Norway

Selected Commissions and Collections

OMI International Sculpture Park, Gant, NY
Grounds for Sculpture, Trenton, NJ
Baltimore/Washington International Airport
American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
Xerox Corp, Rochester, NY
US Chancellery, Lapaz
Nanking College of Fine Arts, Nanking
Contemporary Art Foundation (Ecovar), Marseilles
Harbor Point, Three Strikes, Harbor Point, Baltimore, MD
Gilman School, Three Pumpkins, Baltimore, MD
Purple Line light Rail Station, Passage, Woodside, MD
West Lake International Invitational Exhibition and Commission, Hangzhou, China
World Expo 2010, Shanghai, China: Chain-link fabric sculpture installed in the Contemporary Chinese Garden along the Riverside Landscaping Project

John Ruppert

Unnatural Nature

Staging Energy: John Ruppert

Review: John Ruppert at the Kohl Gallery

The New York Times – Modern Twist to an Age-Old Idea

Baltimore City Paper – Full Circle, An Artscape Exhibition

John Ruppert

John Ruppert at the Chicago Cultural Center

THE Magazine – Critical Reflections: Modern Dimensions: Contemporary American Sculpture

PRESS RELEASE – Modern Dimensions: Contemporary American Sculpture

Artist's Exhibitions

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