BRUCE RUBENSTEIN | ORDER IN CHAOS

May 12th, 2022 - July 8th, 2022

Crossing Art is pleased to present Order in Chaos, the solo exhibition of new paintings by Bruce Rubenstein. This is his first exhibition with the gallery in New York that overview nearly 40 years of his art creative career. The exhibition will be on view at Crossing Art gallery in Chelsea, New York from May 12, 2022 – Jul 8, 2022, with a grand opening reception on Thursday, May 12 from 7 – 9 p.m.

Born and raised in New York and based in Los Angeles since 1985, Rubenstein is expertise in art history and known for the abstract and itinerant practice that encompasses paintings in a rhythmic orchestration of pictographic signs, vivily lines, layers of vibrant colors, pencil scribbles, the smudges and smears. Taken as a whole, his body of work are the marks of an affective body, demonstrating a sustained emphasis on the notion of cultural exchange and the multiple ways in which surroundings, ideas, languages, and even genders are conflicted, circulated, and increasingly intermingled.

Rubenstein has been heavily fascinated with the abstract expressionist movement that exploded onto the art scene in the late 50s and early 60s ever since he studied at Parsons, and dramatically interprets and transforms the style inspired by a wide variety of sources - from Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Roberto Matta, to Arshile Gork. In the abstract phantasmagoria, Rubenstein’s painterly gestures and the dark or brilliant, intensely hued zones arising from his use of lines, assert entirely his spiritual experience and temporal sensitivity. He tries to create a subliminal language with each stroke, providing possibilities for the audience's personal interpretation, just like the archaeologists studying the mysteries behind ancient grottoes murals. Rubenstein's exaggerated forms straddle the boundary between the beautiful and grotesquery, and between the absurdist comedy and intense psychological strain.

As Wassily Kandinsky metaphorized that color is the keyboard and our eye is the hammer… He believed the artist is the hand that purposely sets the soul vibrating by means of this or that key, to produce visual 'chords' and had an influence on the soul. Rubenstein’s romantic language of musical and sensual connections in paintings is vivid as well. To look at Rubenstein’s works is to look at a jazz concierto made material. Like the notes in a ragtime song, Rubentein’s shapes come together in a harmonious cacophony, becoming the physical embodiment of the musical conversation that emerges when instruments play in unison. The shapes intertwine and converse with each other in a manner so chaotic, that one can only assume that their placement is entirely arbitrary. However, much like the notes in a tumultuous jazz song, Rubenstein’s shapes come together to emit a sense of cohesion and precision. Looking at Rubenstein’s works is like putting together a puzzle with oddly shaped pieces. Though potentially overwhelming, it takes only a second to realize that the pieces fit together with a subtle perfection, a perfection that alludes to his genius and knowledge of form. The thick contours that outline each of Rubenstein’s shapes keep the contents of his paintings from meshing into each other, creating a collage-like feel that further promotes a sense of purposeful, chaotic cohesion.

About Artist

Bruce Rubenstein (b. 1955) is a New York City born, Los Angeles based artist that has been creating art for over forty years. Starting his artistic journey as a young child, Rubenstein came to study art at Parson’s School of Design, and became a member of the prestigious Art Students League located in New York City during the mid-70s. His formal training is imbued into even his most abstract works, which juxtapose sharp, precise brushwork with the contingent, irregular forms he is known for. Influenced primarily by the expressionist movement of the late 50s and early 60s, Rubenstein’s work is overflowing with frenetic energy. To Rubenstein, painting is a spiritual experience in which he becomes a vessel for something greater than himself. It is through this process that he is able to create such uniquely energized works that juxtapose formality and abstraction, modernity and antiquity. 

Rubenstein has exhibited in several group and solo shows worldwide since 1992. He has exhibited in locations that include Venice, California; Miami, Florida; Tel-Aviv, Israel and St. Peter in der Au, Austria. His works have been collected in a plethora of corporate spaces, including but not limited to Guess Inc. Corporate Headquarters, Los Angeles, CA; Henry Fonda Theatre, Hollywood, CA; The Kamur Group, Tel Aviv, Israel; The Palms Hotel Maloof Foundation, Las Vegas, NV; and The Abrams Artist Agency Collection, Beverly Hills, CA.