Ruben On Rodin: The Photographs Of Ernestine Ruben

November 29, 2000–April 1, 2001
Contact: Bernard Barryte, Chief Curator, 650-725-0466; Jill Osaka, Public Relations Manager, 650-725-4657.

STANFORD, CA AUGUST 2000—In the summer of 1993, photographer Ernestine Ruben visited the Musée Rodin in Paris and became fascinated by the way Rodin's sculptures seem to emerge from their material as though coming to life. Since that encounter, Ruben has maintained an ongoing "dialogue" with the sculptor's work which she addresses as if it were a force of nature that she can manipulate to serve her own creative ends. Ruben on Rodin: The Photographs of Ernestine Ruben will be on view in the Ruth Levison Halperin Gallery through April 1, 2001.

Ruben alters her photographs by a complex process that incorporates the prints within a dense environment of paper pulp and pigments to create a hybrid, narrowing the traditional distinction between sculpture and photography. This process, and her use of gum bichromate, makes her images of bronze and stone dynamic, sensual, and richly emotional. Also included are photographs not of Rodin's work, but in which his influence resonates. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.



Vertical Kiss

Vertical Kiss
Platinum print
© 2000 Ernestine Ruben