The art of Hector Ruiz is mired in controversy, but it is a quiet contradiction of self rather than dramatic adversary. The artist’s “Pimp Pop” pieces blithely navigate the delicate tightrope of taking an aesthetic position decidedly similar to the subject of satire. There is a pleasure implicit in the puzzling out of Ruiz’s references, from the re-contextualization of local objects to the approximation of cultural icons, to the addition of fantastical handcrafted appendages. The seductive sheen of polished bronze amid logo-emblazoned satin and jewelry box cases serve as indication that these objects inhabit the boutique realm of the luxury market. Ruiz, by his own creative interpolation, increases the market value of the precious object with the added assumed aesthetic value of its artistic pedigree. Ruiz is asking his audience, collectors, academics and the general public alike, to recognize the stepladder of this global consumerism which dictates value heaped upon value for a progression of replications with slight variations, in the quixotic pursuit of the “new”, erstwhile creating demonstrative works of individual integrity that serve to both illustrate and repudiate the same thesis.
EDUCATION
1994 BFA, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008 L’art m’emmerde j’ai participe a cette expo, Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2007 New Works, Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2006 The Standard, Bentley Projects, Phoenix, AZ
2005 La Realidad, The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
2004 Manifest Destiny, LODO/PCCA, Phoenix, AZ
2001 Sculptures, Main Street Gallery, Cottonwood
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011 All City Show, Tribeca, New York, NY
2010 Grand Opening Show, Gallery DD172, New York, NY
2009 Remix, A.G.O. Museum, Toronto, Canada
ColLABORation, Bentley Gallery/Bentley Projects Scottsdale/Phoenix, AZ
50/50 Fifty Gifts/50 Years, Phoenix Art Museum
Opuntia Vulgaris, Monorchid Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
Locals Only, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Chaos Theory 10 Year, Legend City Art Space, Phoenix, AZ
2008 Remix, Smithsonian NMAI, New York
Exibit with a Z, CAM Festival, San Antonio, TX
2007 Remix, The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Big Secret Cache, Angstrom Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Deck Show, Braggs Pie Factory, Phoenix, AZ
2006 Berlin Gallery, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Group Show, Bentley Projects, Phoenix, AZ
2005 Identity: Divided Transformations, Phoenix College, Phoenix, AZ
Chaos Theory, Legend City, Phoenix, AZ
Displaced, The Chocolate Factory, Phoenix, AZ
Group Show, LODO/PCCA, Phoenix, AZ
2004 Miscegenation, The Chocolate Factory, Phoenix, AZ
Group Show, Icehouse, Phoenix
Faculty Show, Rudy and Wanda Turk Galleries, Tempe, AZ
Art Detour, Icon Gallery, Phoenix
2003 Manifest Destiny, LODO/PCCA, Phoenix, AZ
Art Detour, Icon Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
2002 3 Person Show, Icon Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
2001 Faculty Show, Atrium Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Palete-able Art Auction, Buckaroo Parish, Phoenix, AZ
Art Detour/ Group Show, Holgas, Phoenix, AZ
2000 Art Auction: Save the House, House Studios, Phoenix, AZ
Group Show, ASU Memorial Union Gallery, Tempe, AZ
1999 Two Man Show, Atrium Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
Group Show, ASU Memorial Union Gallery, Tempe, AZ
1998 Myths, Metaphors & Icons, MAC Mesa Art Center, Mesa, AZ
What Year is it Now?, Moodswings Gallery, Tempe, AZ
1997 Mind’s Eye Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
PUBLICATIONS
Liversedge, Rosemary “Art Lesson: Interview” 944 Magazine October 2009
Johnson, Ken, “Beyond Stereotypes”, The New York Times, June 2008
Taubman, Lara, “Review: Remix,” Art News, March 2008
Villani, John, “Phoenix Rising,” Art Ltd., February 2008
Abrams, Amy, “Down to Earth,” Desert Living, February 2008
Hernandez, Ruben, “Yo Soy Indio,” Native Peoples, Jan/Feb 2008
Koplos, Janet, “Review of La Realidad”, Art in America, June/July 2006
Booth-Clibborn, Edward “Phoenix: 21st Century City” 2006
Pina, Maria, “Raw, Separate Reality”, Latino Perspectives, February 2006
Baker, Joe, “Sculptures Speech”, Frontdoors, September 2005
Nilsen, Richard, “Head of the Class”, Arizona Republic, August 2005
Norrell, Brenda, “Border Revelations”, Indian Country, March 2006
Lengel, Kerry, “People in the Arts”, Arizona Republic, September 2006
Irwin, Megan, “Candy Man”, New Times, October 2006
Thornton, Tamera, “Arts at the Apex”, Arizona Republic, August 2005
Harper, Judy, “Culture Clash”, Phoenix Home & Garden, August 2005
Andrews, Scott, “La Realidad at the Heard Museum, Java Magazine, July/August 2005
Concors, Erin, “Carving Out Cultural Identity”, East Valley, Scottsdale Tribune, July 2005
Potts, Leanne, “Reality Bites”, New Times, July 2005
Collins, Gina Cavallo, “Artful Otherness”, Phoenix Downtown, July 2005
Switch Magazine, 2004
RADIO AND TELEVISION INTERVIEWS
Fox 10 News, Artist Profile, 2009
NPR Interview, James Garcia, 91.5 FM, 2005
Air America, 1010 Talk Radio, 2005
Horizonte, KAET CH8, 2005
Channel 12, Spanish Market, 2005
Channel 15 ABC, Artist Profile, 2005