Quick Facts
Biography
Rita Maria Walburga Grosse-Ruyken (born 29 November 1948) is a contemporary German artist, sculptor, multimedia installation art, artfilm and performance, producer artist and member of the Association of German Artists Deutscher Kuenstlerbund. The core of her light – sound – space – form installations comprise sculptures in motion made from pure gold and silver. She became internationally known through her exhibition Rays of Light.
Career
Rita Maria Walburga Grosse-Ruyken was born in Donauwörth, and grew up in a hamlet in the Swabian-Danube region. From an early age she became aware of natural phenomena and followed phonetic sound bridges. After Abitur, from 1970 to 1972, she studied Romance and English Language and Literature at the LMU in Munich.
From 1971 to 1977 she studied free art (diploma) and art education (state examination and master degree) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and dedicated herself to the art of the goldsmith under the guidance of Professor Franz Rickert und Hermann Juenger. She was also influenced by Professor Guenther Fruhtrunk, a constructivist painter as well as by the religious philosopher Aloys Goergen, the president of the Academy. From 1977 to 1978 she studied art history and archeology at the University of the Sorbonne in Paris.
From 1983 on she has worked freelance dedicating herself to researching the transparency, colour, light and movement of sculptures. Since 1993, in her continual exchange with astrophysicists, musicians, philosophers, writers, sound technicians and architects, she has been expanding her activities into the performance art and into exploring of Primary Sounds produced by integrated sculptures made from pure gold and pure silver which create motion in and by themselves. Since 2008 she has been involved in the production of art films.
Samples of her work are included in the permanent collections of the International Design Museum, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich as well as the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin and Museum Angewandte Kunst, MAK Frankfurt a. M.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions (selection)
- 1981: The Prelude to the Round Dance – the Body as Vessel, With a Crown. Light-Form-Installation. Gallery Kröner, Castle Oberrimsingen
- 1985–2005: Installation SONNENDUNST – Zyklus I, Landakademie Rattenbach
- 1993: L'ESPRIT DE DIEU PLANAIT À LA SURFACE DES EAUX, The German contribution to the European City of Culture Antwerp
- 1994: L`ESPRIT DE DIEU PLANAIT SUR LES EAUX, Light-Form-Space-Installation. Die Neue Sammlung, International Design Museum, Munich
- 2003: IM GERICHTSSTAND. Licht-Klang-Form-Raum-Installationen. Museum für Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt a.M.
- 2004: DURCHFLUTUNG/RAYS OF LIGHT, Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York City & Goethe Institut, New York City
- 2009: RAYS OF LIGHT – Rita Grosse-Ruyken, Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt
- 2015: DURCHFLUTUNG AND THE WHITE STONE, ArtCOP21 Agenda culturel Paris Climat 2015
Group exhibitions (selection)
- 1979: Goldschmiede dieser Zeit. Körper – Schmuck – Zeichen – Raum, Kestnergesellschaft
- 1979: Körper – Zeichen, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, München
- 1981: Körper, Schmuck, Zeichen, Raum. Goldschmiedearbeiten, Museum of Design, Zürich
- 1984: Kirche heute. Architektur und Gerät. Süddeutscher Raum, Die Neue Sammlung, München
- 1993: Münchner Goldschmiede. Schmuck und Gerät der Gegenwart, Münchner Stadtmuseum, München
- 2004: Welt in Tropfen, (Urania, Berlin)
- 2007: Gulf Art Fair, Dubai (Galerie Thomas, München)
- 2009: Herbert Hoffmann Award 1973–2008, München
- 2011: Ausstellung Pinakothek München
- 2011: Modern Contemporary Art, Salwa Zeidan Gallery, Abu Dhabi Art
- 2012: Im Zeichen der Ewigkeit. Positionen zeitgenössischer Kunst, Neues Museum Kloster Schussenried
- 2012: Quinta Essentia, Deutscher Künstlerbund Berlin
- 2013: intimate, Frameless Gallery London
Exhibition catalogue
- Sabine Runde (Hrsg.): Transformationen – rays of light ( Mit Beiträgen u.a von Hans Wichmann, Aloys Goergen, André Fischer, Friedrich Piel. Texte in Deutsch und Englisch), Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt 2009, ISBN 978-3-88270-110-4
Art films
- 2013: RAYS OF LIGHT, about the 2009 exhibition with the same name
- 2006-2018: DURCHFLUTUNG UND DER WEISSE STEIN: a film with 12 chapters (length: 17,5 hours)
- 2018: DER EWIGE QUELL, about the coming "Museum of Visionary Art" in Triftern