Ruth Phipps "Visitations" Solo Art Exhibition

We are very excited to invite you to the opening celebration of Ruth Phipp's long-awaited solo exhibition of exquisite paintings. Bring a guest to meet Ruth and celebrate the nature of fabric and treasured objects that is evocative and intensely personal in its ability to suggest human presence or absence.

Date: Tuesday 10 October 2023
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Venue: ArtSelect Gallery, 19A Osborne Street, Newmarket
Please RSVP by clicking on the "Date" button below to confirm numbers for this event.

Ruth Phipps Biography
Ruth Phipps’ fascination with drawing and painting began in the early 90’s with community art classes and continued with studies in colour theory, painting and life drawing workshops over the next decade. Having realised that painting was what she wanted to do, Ruth sought more serious tuition and enrolled in a year-long painting school at Artstation and three year-long painting courses with Matthew Browne and Kathryn Stevens.

She has been exhibiting since 2004, and has works of art in local and international collections, including The Arts House Trust collection, the Imago Mundi Benetton World Art Collection in Treviso in Italy and has received recognition by art awards for her submissions.

During 2013, Ruth travelled for 3 months in Europe and the USA, visiting museums, art galleries and private collections with memories from this trip acting as inspiration for her ongoing love of painting.

In subsequent years, Ruth completed a double major Bachelor’s degree in History and Art History at the University of Auckland, took time out for family and spent time during lockdown living in Central Otago. Ruth returned to Auckland in 2022 and has been painting full-time at her studio at Railway Street Studios, in Newmarket. She is represented in Auckland by ArtSelect Gallery and Ngaire Stone, who has facilitated Ruth’s latest solo exhibition, is anticipating strong interest from art collectors.

In her latest body of work, “Visitations”, heirloom fabrics and treasured objects are historically reconfigured. As emblems of the passing of time, they invite reflection on how we value and remember the people who made or treasured these items.

Artist Statement:
My work draws on the nature of fabric that is evocative and intensely personal in its ability to suggest human presence or absence. It explores different aspects of fragility, memory, and the transience of time. Heightened shadow and strong shafts of light illuminate detail and imbue a quiet suggestion of human presence, the stillness of the moment and the lingering trace of a treasured memory.

"I began looking at fabric as an expression of the most basic elements of what it means to be human, as a symbol of life and universal humanity, thinking about the way fabrics conceal and reveal. As I explored the folds and gathers of the fabrics and the negative space around the form, I became increasingly fascinated by the idea of what was hidden, forgotten, lost. It's as if the fabrics have power to suggest another place and time.”

Ruth Phipps artist page:
https://www.artselect.gallery/ruth-phipps

Contact me, Ngaire, on info@artselect.gallery to register your interest early to purchase any of these works of art before the opening.

We look forward to seeing you and your guests at the opening reception and during the exhibition.