Amy Cutler: Past, Present, Progress

Amy Cutler (b. 1974, Poughkeepsie, NY) is known for her detailed, surreal depictions of women involved in arduous and mysterious tasks. For over two decades, she has created beguiling images that only hint at unknown and open-ended stories, inviting endless interpretations. Reflecting influences as wide-ranging as global textiles, Persian miniatures and nineteenth-century photography and engaging with subjects as broad as animals of all kinds, failed utopia and preindustrial devices, Cutler’s works are otherworldly. Yet, they serve as visual metaphors for very real societal conditions or personal experiences. As mysterious as her images can be, hiding in plain sight are representations of particular traits and concepts identified by the artist. Amy Cutler: Past, Present, Progress focuses on three recurring motifs—hair, heads and horses—to explore how they are used for different effect and purpose.

Typical for Cutler, these motifs may have multiple associations, but each suggests a distinct condition. Long braids of hair signal the passage of time and a connection to the past, while heads, detached or opened to reveal an inner mental landscape, imply a present state of being. Horses, given their association with transportation, allude to transition and are emblematic of progress or movement forward. Amy Cutler: Past, Present, Progress is the artist’s first solo presentation in Texas and serves as a snapshot overview of her practice.  Three new paintings as well as earlier examples, along with prints, drawings and an elaborate interactive installation will intrigue and stimulate with their detailed, enigmatic composition.

About the artist
Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1974, Amy Cutler lives and works in New York. She has had solo exhibitions at numerous national and international venues, including Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska; The Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland; Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia; Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach; Art, Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara, California; Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia; Museo Nacional Reina Sofía, Madrid; and Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana. Her work is in the collections of Art, Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara, California; Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Hallmark Collection, Kansas City, Missouri; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Indianapolis Museum of Art; JP Morgan Chase, New York; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; New York Public Library, New York; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; The Menil Collection, Houston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.

About Ruby City
Ruby City is a contemporary art center in San Antonio, TX, dedicated to providing a space for the city’s thriving creative community to experience works by both local and internationally-acclaimed artists. Envisioned in 2007 by the late collector, philanthropist and artist Linda Pace, Ruby City presents works from the Linda Pace Foundation Collection of more than 1400 paintings, sculptures, installations and video works. The new building, designed by renowned architect Sir David Adjaye OBE, is part of a campus, which also includes Chris Park, a one-acre public green space named in memory of Pace’s son, and Studio, an auxiliary exhibition space which presents curated shows and programming throughout the year.

Ruby City is open Thursday through Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Admission is free; advance reservations are recommended. Information and reservations are available at rubycity.org.