Aristides Ruiz, HOPPER'S PAYPHONE 2000, watercolor on paper 22" x 30" | Private Collection
Payphones are one of those things in a city that you usually overlook. Asides from being a great place to stick a sticker or a stencil on, they have all but become more or less useless or even obsolete, since mobile phones became a major part of our everyday lives. Visual artist Aristides Ruiz however sees them in a different light; now turning the humble payphone into a protagonist, in an ongoing series of paintings based on photographs taken in New York City. Ruiz uses the payphone as an anchor to depict the emotion and beauty hidden in the mundane coming and going of urban life where his paintings are meant to convey not only the information contained in the original photos, but also the feeling of the moment that they were taken in.
left / Aristides Ruiz, GARDEN 2001, watercolor on paper 10 ½" x 15 ½" | Private Collection
right / Aristides Ruiz, PAYPHONE with TROPHY 2000, watercolor on paper 10 ½" x 15 ½" | Private Collection
Aristides Ruiz, MOTT STREET 2011, acrylic on hot press watercolor paper mounted on board 10 ½'' x 14 ¾'' | Private Collection
Aristides Ruiz is a New York-based visual artist who has shown his work in gallery spaces across the USA. He has been a studio member at the Elisabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York since 2010.
[YatzerTip]EFA, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts is inviting the public to visit their resident artists’ studios in Manhattan during their participation in the Fashion District Arts Festival, on the 24th, 25th and 26th of October 2013. Please visit their website for exact opening times and other information.
Aristides Ruiz, LA LLAMADA (Delancey Street, NYC) 2008, ballpoint pen on paper mounted on board 11 ¼" x 16 ¼" | Private Collection
left / Aristides Ruiz, BEER n' SHAKE, 2001, oil over acrylic on canvas 11" x 16" | Private Collection
right / Aristides Ruiz, ORCHARD STREET PAYPHONE 2004, acrylic on watercolor paper mounted on board 19 ½" x 29 ½" | Private Collection
Aristides Ruiz, ORO 2009, ballpoint pen on hot press watercolor paper mounted on board 10 ¼" x 15 ¼" image on 12" x 18 ¼" board | Private Collection
left / Aristides Ruiz, ALIVE WITH PLEASURE 2002, watercolor and gouache on paper 13" x 19 ½"
right / Aristides Ruiz, The PAYPHONE and the KING 2001, watercolor on paper 8 ¼" x 12 ¼" | Private Collection
Aristides Ruiz, EVELIO 2012, ballpoint pen, graphite, acrylic medium on paper mounted on board 10 ¾" x 16 ¼" | Private Collection
Aristides Ruiz, THE PELICAN and THE PAYPHONE. 2008, acrylic on hot press watercolor paper mounted on board 10 ½" x 14 ¾" image on 13" x 17" board Courtesy of Aristides Ruiz.
Aristides Ruiz, ATM 2007, ballpoint pen on paper mounted on board 11 ¼" x 16" | Private Collection
Aristides Ruiz, PSYCHO 2005, acrylic on watercolor paper mounted on board 11 ¼" x 16 ¼" | Private Collection.
Aristides Ruiz Pays Homage To New York’s (almost forgotten) Payphones