Fluid Force

Born in 1952 in Naples, Texas, Nancy Rubins is a sculptor and installation artist whose large-format sculptures explore the threshold between two- and three-dimensionality. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of California at Davis, Rubins has installed her monumental sculptures across the United States and Europe, while significant public and private collections hold her work. She has exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, and the Venice Biennale. Steidl published Rubins' Work in 2012.

Over the past five decades Nancy Rubins has transformed everyday objects into dynamic, otherworldly assemblages in a multitude of scales, dimensions and mediums. Fluid Force presents a comprehensive survey of Rubins' gravity-defying practice and invites us to linger on her investigations of materiality-from early explorations of wood and clay to two-dimensional photo-collages, graphite sculptural drawings, and complex sculptures comprising found domestic objects (from televisions to toasters and hair dryers) and large salvaged objects such as boats, mattresses and airplane parts. Rubins' fascination with form and matter is unmistakable as she explores and challenges preconceived notions of what sculpture and drawing could and can be. With over 90 photographs and new texts by Phong H. Bui, Eric Shiner and Yayoi Shionoiri, Fluid Force is a much-needed publication that celebrates Rubins' extensive career and her brilliance in uniting the worlds of art and engineering-a reminder that what appears solid and static is in fact in a constant state of change.