We live as part of an amazing organism that has the capacity to regenerate, given a chance. We also live in the waste stream. Garbage is a combat zone where our desire for comfort and function meets the limits of our nest.
—Christy Rupp
Ever since her emergence as an artist and activist in Manhattan in the late 1970s, eco-artist Christy Rupp has used art to understand the human definition of “natural.” Wielding commodified materials to construct three-dimensional sculptural pieces that examine our perception of nature, her work has been noted for its dynamic ability to deconstruct the harsh divisions that separate us from our environment. Noisy Autumn: Sculpture and Works on Paper, a new career-spanning monograph from Insight Editions, shows the precision, scale, and enduring power of this work.
Through her artwork, Rupp directly addresses the intersection of geopolitics, culture, and economics as they impact the vulnerabilities of ecosystems. “Foundational in my art practice is the intersection of animal behavior and the environment. As I started to learn more about how the science of economics impacts habitat, pretty much everything I’ve made since then flows from the waste stream, the creation and persistence of garbage, and how that waste has defined the world we live in today,” Rupp says. “I study economics as if it were a natural system which has been corrupted. The ravages of oil spills, industrial pollutants, pesticides, and climate chaos have made me an eco artist.”
Plastic—as both form and content—has figured prominently in her art… It serves as a perfect signifier for the conceptual underpinnings of her work, its pointed critique, and subversive humor.
—Nina Felshin
Christy Rupp is an American eco-artist and citizen scientist. Born in the Rust Belt of Upstate New York, she was too young for Elvis and too old for Barbie. For the past five decades Rupp has continued the search for clues that might explain how we have arrived at the edge of the Extractocene, a world permanently altered by the presence of Homo sapiens.
Rupp was part of the artist collective Collaborative Projects (Colab)—organizer of the historic Times Square Show—as well as ABC No Rio and other East Village-era artist groups.
She has received grants from Anonymous was a Woman Foundation, Joan Mitchell Foundation CALL Award, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and Art Matters Inc. Her work has been recently shown at the Schunck Museum in Heerlen, Netherlands; Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Zimmerli Art Museum; and ABC No Rio in Exile.She has just launched a career survey, Noisy Autumn: Sculpture and Works on Paper, published by Insight Editions.
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A New Monograph Catalogues the Career of Eco Artist Christy Rupp
Insight Editions, Hyperallergic, November 2, 2021 -
ANTHONY HADEN-GUEST ON CHRISTY RUPP
Anthony Haden-Guest, White Hot Magazine, June 1, 2022 -
Beyond the Art/Science Duality: A Conversation with Ellen K. Levy | Sculpture Magazine
Joyce Beckenstein, Sculpture Magazine, December 8, 2022 -
A BEAUTIFULLY CONCEIVED MESSAGE
ENVIRONMENTAL ARTIST CHRISTY RUPP ANCHORED AT FAIRFIELDMadeleine Lord, Artscope, March 1, 2024
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CHRISTY RUPP | Streaming
Fairfield University Art Museum | Walsh Gallery January 19 - April 27, 2024Since the '70s, Christy Rupp's sculptures and works on paper have explored the relationship between economics and the environment. Rupp seeks to make this complex topic – one usually examined...Read more -
ART ON PAPER
Booth A-13 | Pier 36 | New York City September 8 - 11, 2022Cross Contemporary Art Projects curates a pop-up exhibition at Art on Paper - an art fair devoted to works of art on paper. This special show features work by Virginia...Read more -
CHRISTY RUPP
Othered - A Solo Exhibition at Howl! Happening April 21 - May 29, 2022APRIL 21 - MAY 29, 2022 An Installation of Sculpture and Works on Paper Opening Reception: Thursday, April 21 / 6–8 PM / Free Othered opening Thursday, April 21, is...Read more -
Forest Bathing
A Group Exhibition About Nature January 15 - February 27, 2022FOREST BATHING - A Group Exhibition about Nature Woodstock, NY - Forest Bathing is a concept that originated in Japan in the 1980’s as an antidote to an increasingly technological...Read more
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STREAMING: Sculpture by Christy Rupp
Artist Talk and Reception January 18, 2024Understood as one of the early pioneers in the field of ecological art activism, the artist, activist and thought-leader Christy Rupp has an international reputation....Read more -
ART ON PAPER NYC
Booth A-13 | Sept 9-11,2022 September 8 - 11, 2022Cross Contemporary Art Projects goes to New York City for the annual Art on Paper Art Fair located in downtown Manhattan's Pier 36, Sept 8...Read more -
Carlo McCormick and Christy Rupp: Gallery Conversation & Book Talk
May 21, 2022When: Sat. May 21, 3pm Where: Howl! Happening 6 East 1st Street NYC, NY 10003 Howl! Happening is pleased to present: Carlo McCormick and...Read more -
Christy Rupp : Othered
An Installation at Howl : Happening, NYC, NY April 21, 2022Christy Rupp's solo exhibition "Othered" opens Thursday, April 21, 6–8 PM at Howl Happening in the Lower East Side, NYC "Othered" is a new installation integrating images and objects by eco-artist, activist, and thought-leader Christy Rupp.Read more -
Christy Rupp & Scott Volz in Conversation about Noisy Autumn
March 31, 2022Christy Rupp and Scott Volz discuss Rupp's life and work as an eco-artist and activist along with her new book, Noisy Autumn: Sculpture and Works on Paper (Mandala publishing 2021). Hosted by the Climate Futures Collective - University of California,Irvine. No registration required- Zoom link: https://uci.zoom.us/j/96907972524 Meeting ID: 96907972524Read more
BOOKS
Magic City, From Here to Fame Books, 2017.
Openings: A Memoir from the Women’s Art Movement, New York City 1970-1992, Sabra Moore, Village Press, 2016.
Exit Art: Unfinished Memories: 30 Years of Exit Art , Susan Harris, Steidl, 2016.
A Book about Colab (and Related Activities)., Max Shuman, Printed Matter, 2016.
Politisierung der Kunst, Avantgarde und US-Kunstwelt, Lutz Hieber, Springer VS, 2015, p. 58.
Street Art, Jerome Katz, Flammarion, 2015.
Undermining: A Wild Ride Through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West , Lucy Lippard, The New Press, 2014.
On the Museum’s Ruins by Douglas Crimp, 2014, V-A-C Foundation, Moscow, Russia, figure 55, p. 242.
This Will Have Been: Art, Love, Politics in the 80s, Helen Molesworth, Yale University Press, 2012.
Trespass: A History Of Uncommissioned Urban Art by Carlo McCormick, Hardcover: 320 pages, Publisher: Taschen, 2010.
Dead or Alive: Nature Becomes Art, David McFadden & Lowery Stokes Sims, pub Museum of Arts and Design, 2010.
Mixed Use Manhattan: Photography and Related Practices, 1970s to the Present, book edited by Lynne Cooke and Douglas Crimp for the Reina Sofia in Madrid. The book is co-published by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia and MIT Press, 2010.
Public Art for Public Schools, Michele Cohen, The Monacelli Press, 2009.
The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, Washington DC, National Gallery of Art, 2008.
NextText, Anna Kress and Suellyn Winkle, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.
Espèces d’espace – The Eighties – First Part, Le Magasin, Grenoble, France, 2008.
Land Art, Tate Publishing, 2006.
Papermaking for Printmakers, A & C Black, London, 2006.
The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene 1974–1984 Grey Art Gallery, NYU, Princeton University Press, 2005.
City Art, New York’s Percent for Art Program, Charlotte Cohen, Merrel Press, 2005.
The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age,
Suzanne Anker & Dorothy Nelkin, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2003.
Alternative Art New York 1965-1985, The Drawing Center/U of Minnesota Press, 2002
Paradise Now: Picturing the Genetic Revolution,
Ian Berry (Editor), Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum, 2001
Welded, Sculpture from the 20th Century, Judy Collishan, Lund Humphries, 2000.
5000 Artists Return to Artists Space: 25 Years, Artists Space/D.A.P. Press, 1998.
Alternative Art New York 1965-1985, Julie Ault ( editor), U of Minnesota Press, 1996.
The Pink Glass Swan: Selected Feminist Essays on Art, The New Press, 1995.
Democracy: A project of Group Material, Dia Art Foundation: Discussions in Contemporary Art Number 5, Bay Press/Dia Art Foundation, 1990.
ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of a Lower East Side Art Gallery, ABC No Rio with Collaborative Projects, 1985.
A Decade of New Art, Artists Space publisher, 1984.
Content: A Contemporary Focus 1974-1984, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 1984.
Get the Message? A Decade of Art for Social Change, Lucy Lippard, E.P. Dutton, 1984.
Illegal America, Pub Exit Art, NYC, 1982.
CATALOGUES
Catastrophozoic: Sculpture by Christy Rupp
Carbon Mostly: Brinkiness and the Rights of Nature, Sculpture by Christy Rupp
Notched Bodies, Insects in Contemporary Art, NYC Dept of Parks, Arsenal Gallery, Essay by Jennifer Lantzas, 2013.
Tandem Pursuits, Armor & Ichthyology, by Jennifer McGregor, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, 2013.
The Animals Look Back at Us, Sara Lynn Henry, Byrdcliffe Kleinert /James Ctr for the Arts, Woodstock, NY, 2013.
American Dreamers-Reality and Imagination in Contemporary Art, Centro di Cultura Contemporanea Strozzina, Firenze, Italy, Silvana Editoriale, 2012.
Bug-Eyed: Art Culture, Insects, Patricia Watts, pub Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, CA, 2004.
“The Obsolete Self” by the artist formerly known as Christy Rupp, 2004 NYFA Newsletter.
Nature In Pieces: The Environmental Sculpture of Christy Rupp, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, 2002.
Insecta Magnifica, Wave Hill, Riverdale, NY, Jennifer McGregor, 2002.
Christy Rupp: Swimming in the Gene Pool, Mass MoCA Kidspace, North Adams, MA, 2000.
Christy Rupp, The Landscape Within, Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, Niagara Falls, NY, 1999.
New Histories, pub ICA Boston, 1996.
Cultural Economies: Histories of the Alternative Arts Movement NYC, Pub The Drawing Center, NY, 1996.
Natural Selection: The work of Christy Rupp, Lucy Lippard, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY, 1992.
Artworks: Christy Rupp, Williams College Museum of Art, 1991.
No Laughing Matter, Independent Curators Inc, NY, 1991.
Height X Width X Length, Weatherspoon Gallery, Greensboro, NC, 1991.
The Political Landscape, Hillwood Art Gallery, Long Island U, 1990.
Committed to Print: Social and Political Themes in Recent American Printed Art, Deborah Wye, The Museum of Modern Art, 1988.
Motives, Curated by Claudia Gould, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY, 1985.
Natural History, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, NYC, 1982.
The 1984 Show, Ronald Feldman Gallery, NYC, 1983.
PERIODICALS
“Leaping Clear,” Art, Literature, Contemplation, 2021 Fall Issue.
” Pictures from a Pandemic,” by Anthony Haden-Guest, Whitehot Magazine, June 2020.
“Nature: New Contexts, New Art,” by Ellen Levy, Women’s Art Journal Volume 41, Fall/ Winter 2020.
“Notched Bodies: Insects in Contemporary Art,” Science and Technology Magazine, U of Texas, Dallas Nov 12, 2013.
“Fracking Away Our Air, Water and Land,” Creative Time Reports Op-Ed, Ruth Hardinger, author.
“Art & Politics. Fracking: Drawing the Line,” Revolt Magazine Volume 1 Issue 4, 2013.
“Peeking Inside ‘Die Wunderkammer’,” Blouin Artinfo March 21, 2013.
Crossroads of the “Art” World, John Reed, Paris Review 10/10,/2012.
Collaborative Projects, “The Colab Conspiracy,” Walter Robinson, Artnet Magazine.
What the cool, Dec 3, 2011
Inquiring Mind Volume 28/Numbr 2/Spring 2012.
“Frack Me Not,” Roll Magazine, June 2010.
“Art That Was Once Alive,” New York Times, Science Times, 5/3/2010.
“Of Compost, Molecules and Insects, Art Is Born,” New York Times, 5/11/2010.
“Artist Christy Rupp turns chicken bones into pseudo-skeletons of extinct birds,” NY Daily News, May 11, 2010.
Extinct Birds Previously Consumed by Humans at Frederieke Taylor Gallery, Art in America, September 2008, review by Edward Leffingwell.
“Lowgo: The Single Celled Artist,” Satya Magazine, interview with Christy Rupp, May 2005.
Women Environmental Artists Directory, WEAD, 2004.
“Food Fight,” Wichita Eagle, Feb 21, 2002, p. 4c.
“Mutant Materials” New York Magazine, June 4, 2001, p. 124.
The New Yorker, Goings On About Town, Self Portrait by Christy Rupp, June 22, 1992.
Heresies Collective issues
#13 Feminism & Ecology, 1981
#20 Activists, Organizers, Progressives…, 1985
#24 Twelve Years, 1989
We Will Not Be Disappeared: A Directory of Arts Activism, Cultural Correspondence, NYC, 1984.
INTERVIEWS
NSE #444, Christy Rupp and Eleanor Heartney for the Brooklyn Rail, December 8, 2021
Voices On Contemporary Art , illustrated slide interview/conversation with Jonathan Allen, October 2018.
Yale Radio Interviews with Brainard Carey, February 2018.
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Oral History Interview (5.5 hours), July 2012.
WNYC Radio “Post Modern Post Mortem,” April 23, 2010.
