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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

 

2024-   Letters From German Exile (solo exhibit), Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia PA

            Cities Into Dust, the Study, Philadelphia PA

             Paper Jam: The Photocopier As A Creative Tool, Hartnett Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester NY

2023-   All That Is Solid Melts Into Air (solo exhibit), Studio 34, Philadelphia PA

             People’s Budget Office, Love Park, Philadelphia PA

2022-   Where Will We Be Held?, video installation series, Suzuki Piano Academy, Philadelphia PA

             NRDC x Justseeds, collaborative temporary mural and event series as part of EXPO Chicago

2021-   Collective Communities: Actions on Environmental Crises, Weinberg/Newton Gallery, Chicago IL

2020-   Feast and Famine, Paul Robeson Galleries, Rutgers, Newark NJ

2019-   Friends, Peace and Sanctuary, variously exhibited at Swarthmore University, City Hall, 12 Gates Gallery,     

            Philadelphia, PA and Booklyn, NYC

            Site/Sound, public audio-visual art festival in various outdoor locations, presented by Mural Arts and

            the American Composer's Forum, collaborative installations with composer Rosie Langabeer

2018-  Salamander Mask, Pilot Projects, Philadelphia, PA

            Marx@200, SPACE, Pittsburgh, PA

2017-  Hakim’s Tale, Eastern State Penitentiary (collaborative installation with Gelsey Bell), Philadelphia, PA                            

            Commonwealth: Water for All, Queens Museum, NY

2016-  Worlds Reverse, Gallery 1816, Philadelphia, PA (solo exhibit)

2015-  You Can Color Outside the Lines: The Work of Tim Kerr and Friends, Rosa Parks Museum, Montgomery, AL

            Gathering Autonomy: Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, Arlene & Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design,                           

            PNCA, Portland, OR

2014-  Artists of the R-Line, City Hall, Providence, RI

            An Other World, World’s Fair/Machines With Magnets, Pawtucket, RI (solo installation)

            Manif d’Art 7: Québec Biennale, Atelier Engramme, Quebec City, QC, Canada

            Uprisings: Images of Labor & Migration, SKETCH, Toronto, ON, Canada

2013-  Agora: the 4th Annual Athens Biennale, Former Athens Stock Exchange, Athens, Greece (as part of

            the Never the Same archive)

            The Message is the Medium: Prints, Propaganda, and Persuasion, Zeitgeist Gallery, Lowell, MA

            Unsocial Sociability, Kunstraum Lakeside, Klagenfurt, Austria

            Uprisings, Union Art Gallery, University Of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

2012-  Agit-Prop and Interventions, Neurotitan Gallery, Berlin, Germany

            Celebrate People’s History, Irregular Rhythm Asylum, Tokyo, Japan

            Undocunation 2012, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA

            Witches & Mad Prophets, Machines With Magnets, Pawtucket, RI (also curated)

2011-  Refuge, Galerija Alkatraz, Ljubljana, Slovenia (prize-winner’s exhibition, 29th Slovenian Biennial of the Graphic Arts)

            Pittsburgh Biennial 2011, Miller Gallery at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

            Staring at the Cracks, 4212 Chestnut, Philadelphia PA (collaborative installation w/ Brett Story & Daniel Blacksberg)

            For the Sake of Future Days, 40th street AIR Project, Philadelphia PA (solo installation)

            War Is Trauma, Booklyn, Brooklyn, NY

2010-  Bring Down the Walls!-A Month of Radical Art and Educational Events, A-Space and Studio

            34, Philadelphia PA (an Independent Project of Philagrafika) 

           JUST SEEDS Cooperativa de Resistencia Visual, Z.A.M., Mexico City, Mexico

           Operation Exposure, Mess Hall, Chicago, IL   

 2009- Art as Action, Printmaking Council of New Jersey, Sommerville NJ

           Liberation!, Dirt Palace, Providence RI (solo installation)

           28th Biennial of Graphic Arts, International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, Slovenia

           Confronting the Capitalist Crisis, Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona, Tuscon AZ

           Which Side Are You On?, Union Art Gallery, University Of Wisconsin, Milwaukee WI

2008-  Out Of the Shell of the Old, Space 1026, Philadelphia PA

           Ides of March, Biennial building-wide installation, ABC No Rio, NYC

           Great Small Works’ Temporary Toy Theater Museum, St. Ann’s Warehouse, NYC

           Sustainable, AS220, Providence RI

2006-  The Earth from Above, Soap Factory, Minneapolis MN

            If They Come For You In the Morning, ABC No Rio, New York NY

            Rude Awakenings: New Work by Erik Ruin & Meredith Stern, Art of This Gallery, Minneapolis MN

2005-  Paper Politics- Seattle, Phinney Community Center, Seattle WA

2004-  The Interventionists- Art In The Social Sphere, (as part of God Bless Graffiti Coalition installation), MASS 

            MoCA, North Adams MA

            Peace Signs: Posters Of The Anti-War Movement. Chisholm Gallery, New York NY

            Stencils by Erik Ruin, (solo show), Vestibule Gallery, Detroit MI

 

 

SELECTED PERFORMANCES

 

2022-   Tierkries LA, Ivy Substation Theater, Culver City LA- created and performed projections for this re-

            interpretation of Stockhausen’s song-cycle. Commissioned/presented by Synchromy

            High Zero Festival,  Baltimore MD

2019-  Middle of Nowhere festival, Whitesbog Village, NJ

2017-   Long/Gone, the Rotunda, Philadelphia PA. 100 feet of intricately cut paper projected to live accompaniment 

           by a ten-piece musical ensemble. European tour in April of 2018, including a featured spot at the SOTU 

           Festival in Amsterdam,

2016-  Antigone, Panorama Artist Collective, Philadelphia PA. I co-directed and designed projections for this

           experimental production inspired by Anne Carson’s Antigonick.

          Play Death More Sweetly, Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia, PA. I initiated and designed and performed  

          projections for this collaboration with dancer Asimina Chremos and my musical ensemble the Ominous Cloud

          Ensemble, based on Paul Celan’s poem Todesfuge.

         10,000 Things, Wilbury Theater, Providence, RI. I designed projections for this original play by Erik Ehn.

2015-  Prisoner’s Song, Roulette Intermedia, Brooklyn NY. I co-created and performed this original performance for 

           voice and projections, in collaboration with vocalist/composer Gelsey Bell and director Rick Burkhardt.

2014-  Boundless: A Collaborative Work of Epic Theater, Summer St. Theater, Providence, RI. I initiated, produced,

           designed sets and projections for and co-directed (with Sarah Lowry of the Missoula Oblongata) this ambitious

           production with a cast of over 40 performers.

2013-  One Touch of Nature Makes the Whole World Kin, a silk-screened toy-theater show based on Rebecca Solnit’s

           A Paradise Built In Hell, co-created and performed with Maryann Colella (Bread & Puppet). Regional tour 

            with featured stop at Great Small Works' Tenth International Toy Theater Festival, St. Ann’s Warehouse,

            NYC.

2009-  King Lear, co-directed and created projection sequences for an act of Shakespeare’s King Lear, in a 5 company

           production, alongside Bedlam Theater (Minneapolis MN),  the Nonsense Company (Madison WI), Trutheater

           Theater (Providence RI), and  Insurgent Theater (Milwaukee WI). Performances in Philadelphia and

           Minneapolis.

2008-  Cardboard, Shadows, Sheets & Suitcases,, shadow performance with live musical accompaniment, Institute for

           Contemporary Art, Philadelphia PA.

          Flight: The Mythic Journey of a Person Displaced, touring projection-based shadow performance, with live 

          score by violinist Katt Hernandez, toured throughout the eastern U.S., with over 15 performances.

2007-  The Nothing Factory: A Musical Shadow Theater Extravaganza, co-directed, created sets & shadow imagery   

           for this feature-length avant-punk musical. Debuted September 28th at the Rotunda, Philadelphia PA. 

           Productions in Baltimore and NYC.

           Mad Dogs & Fighting Men, created & performed shadow sequences for this St. Patrick’s Day event based on

           the writing of James Stephens at the Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul, MN. Event sponsored by Minnesota Public

           Radio.

2006-  The Uninvited Guest: Barebones Productions’ 13th annual Halloween Extravaganza, designed, created &

           directed shadow sequences for this large outdoor Halloween theatrical production, Hidden Falls Park, St. Paul

           MN.

           SeamsLike, shadow theater piece exploring “revelation as rupture” with original music by Minneapolis            

           accordion/saw duo Dreamland Faces, featured performance at annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Pittsburgh

2004-  Olive on the Seder Plate- created scenes for projection in this performance by the Liberty Cabbage Theater

           concerning issues around Judaism and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Toured nationally.

 

 

SELECTED COLLABORATIONS

 

Ominous Cloud Ensemble- An ongoing collectively improvising audio-visual ensemble that incorporates a rotating cast of musicians, including members of Sun Ra Arkestra, Chris Forsyth’s Solar Motel Band, Bardo Pond and more.

Summer Street Dinner Theater- I curated this ongoing series of artisanal dinners and programs of original interdisciplinary performances at my home/studio Summer Street Theater from 2014-15.

Neighbor Ballads- Collaborated with poet Frank Sherlock & the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program to create a series of seven illustrated broadsides celebrating immigrant elders/ancestors in South Philadelphia. The broadsides were distributed on the street via decorated honor boxes. April-June 2011.

Justseeds Visual Resistance Artist’s Cooperative- Founding member of this national cooperative of politically- and socially-engaged printmakers. 2006- present. www.justseeds.org. Lead coordinator of several collective projects.

Street Art Workers- Organizer and artist with this collective that produces, disseminates, and places political art throughout the world. 2003-present. www.streetartworkers.org

Barebones Productions- Worked as director of shadow puppetry for this theatrical collective producing large community-based outdoor Halloween events, with nightly attendance upwards of 2000. from 2005-2006.

Prison Poster Project- Worked as organizer & designer with this collective of artists & activists working in collaboration with prisoners across the U.S to create a large-scale portable mural as a public education tool to discuss how the prison industrial complex affects communities. 2002- 2007.

 

 

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

 

 

Amherst College, Amherst, MA

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Germany

Brown University, John Hay Library, Providence, RI

Bucknell University, Lewisberg, PA

Columbia University, New York, NY

DePaul University, Chicago, IL

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Leipzig, Germany

George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Harvard University, Fine Arts Library, Cambridge, MA

Herzog August Bibiothek, Wolfenbüttel, Germany

Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN

Parsons, The New School, New York, NY

Rhode Island School of Design, The RISD Museum, Providence, RI

Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, GA

St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

The British Library, London, UK

The Pennsylvania State University, Universtity Park, PA

University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA

University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL

University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

University of Delaware Library, Newark, DE

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Special Collections, Madison, WI

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

Yale University, Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, New Haven, CT

 

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

 

Paths Toward Utopia, co-author with Cindy Milstein, PM Press, November 2012

Realizing The Impossible: Art Vs. Authority, co-editor with Josh MacPhee, AK Press, February 2007

All The Days After: Critical Voices in Poetry & Artwork, as a member of the Upsidedown Culture Collective, pub.2002

 

 

SELECTED PRESS

 

2019-  Dabenaugh, Wendy, “Reading Railroad brought back to life with Site/Sound: Revealing the Rail Park”, ABC6 Action

            News, October 6, 2019

2017-  Bury, Louis, “The Contested Histories of Water”, Hyperallergic, June 24, 2017

           Brady, Shaun, “Storybook art unraveled from a single cut of paper in 'Long/Gone’ ”, Philly Voice, June 14,  2017

2016-  Brady, Shaun, “Dancer Asimina Chremos and visual artist Erik Ruin put their heads together for 'Play Death  

           More Sweetly”, Philly Voice, July 19, 2016

           Brady, Shaun, “Performance piece at Rotunda explores song's power for those behind bars”, Philadelphia 

           Inquirer, March 15, 2016       

2015-  da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna, “Review: ‘Prisoner’s Song’ Delves Into Creativity of Confinement”, New  

            York Times, October 15, 2015

           Regan, Sheila, “Surrealist Leonora Carrington Inspires Shadow Puppet Opera,” Minneapolis City Pages, April     

           16, 2015

2014-  Cook, Greg, “Aiming for Transcendence: Erik Ruin Creates Another World at Machines With Magnets”,     

           Providence Phoenix, February 5, 2014

2013-  “Printmaking Radicalism: With the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative”, Briarpatch Magazine, July 1, 2013

2012-   Eil, Philip, “Sketching Anarchy”, the Boston Phoenix, November 14, 2012

2011-   Emmons, Amze, “Word On The Street (Art): Neighbor Ballads”, Printeresting,

2009-   Regan, Margaret, “To Change the World”, Tucson Weekly, September 3, 2009

2008-   Carroll, Jacob, “Justseeds Grow All Over 1026”, Philagrafika, July 25, 2008

 

 

 

AWARDS & RESIDENCIES

 

2024-  Wind Challenge award, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia PA

2023-  People’s Budget Office Residency, Mural Arts, Philadelphia PA

2022-  Artist-In-Residence, St. Michael’s Printshop, St Johns, NL Canada

2018-  Artist-In-Residence, MacDowell Colony

2017-  Artist-In-Residence, Blue Mountain Center

2015-  Project Grant for Individual Artist, Rhode Island State Council on the Art

           United States Artists Fellowship (nomination)

2014-  Project Grant for Individual Artist, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts

           Art Matters fellowship (nomination)

2012-  Artist-in-Residence, Climate of Change Focus Residency, Blue Mountain Center

2010-  Artist-in-Residence, 40th street AIR, Philadelphia PA

2009-  Grand Prix (awarded to Justseeds Cooperative), 28th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia

           AS220 Artist-in-Residence, Providence RI

2008-  Puffin Foundation artists’ grant

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