Christine Rebhuhn & Christian Ruiz Berman: Perched on a Bowstring

Sep 12–Oct 12, 2024

Opening Reception: Sep 12, 6-8:30pm

Perched on a Bowstring

Mindy Solomon is pleased to present Perched on a Bowstring, a two-person exhibition featuring the works of Christian Ruiz Berman and Christine Rebhuhn. Featuring a lively interplay of two and three-dimensional works, each object is steeped in narrative content.

In his second presentation in the gallery—the first a solo exhibition in 2022—Ruiz Berman continues to explore the intricacies of storytelling. Combining exquisitely articulated birds, coyotes and other natural and artificial elements against an abstracted back drop, Ruiz Berman highlights his drafting chops. Trained as an architect, his sure handed drafting skills are keenly at play. A published poet, his literary prowess is also on display metaphorically, through the juxtaposition of carefully rendered imagery.

Ruiz Berman is interested in envisioning new ways to continue the tradition of Mexican and magical realist painting, as well as finding hopeful and joyful means of defining the shared human experience. He explores theories of consciousness and interdependence, challenging the increasingly constrictive narratives of political purity and correctness in the art world and beyond. An avid outdoorsman, he enjoys backpacking, fly-fishing, environmental conservation, poetry, and surfing. Each of these activities are strong influences in his oeuvre.

Christine Rebhuhn is a New York based artist. Skilled in both ceramic and found object assemblage sculpture, Rebhuhn works with an unlikely juxtaposition of materials that create an intriguing narrative. In her own words: “Some of the most beautiful things can remain hidden from our view, because their expansiveness is too large to be knowable, or because they live inside the space of the mind. This work searches for what we cannot say.

Within these sculptures is a haunting sense of perfection that only comes from hindsight or fantasy. You wouldn’t be able to see it from the inside, but the trap is also a shelter: the place of protection is also the source of fear. There’s an eerie anticipation, knowing that this kind of tightly bound restraint is only a set-up for recklessness. The work is a reflection on our endless entanglement with each other, and in turn our predatory behaviors, which reappear over and over. It’s a fatal conundrum, beauty and the unbearable, a reality that cannot be managed.”

Both Ruiz Berman and Rebhuhn bring a mind-bending collection of ideas and images to this exhibition. Defying our expectations of how we position the artificial and natural worlds, Perched on a Bowstring is indeed a precarious state of being.

See Work on Artsy

“Perched on a Bowstring” Installation View. Photography by Zachary Balber.

Christine Rebhuhn, Playing Dumb, 2023, Hand carved wood opossum, paint, mellophone, 25″ x 14″ x 25″

Christian Ruiz Berman, Cadenas de Amor, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 11″ x 17″. From the Artist: This painting is very simply a depiction of romance and its complexity. A male and female hornbill compliment each other in their curved elegance, and the moon makes an abstracted appearance as the near-universal symbol for the mysteries of love. The two birds grasp silver chains, not too delicate and not too heavy; they are the trappings of relationship and its responsibilities and bonds. The painting is also a diptych (on two panels), further emphasizing the interdependence of separate elements and their imperfect but finely orchestrated union.

Christine Rebhuhn, Deliver Us, 2024, chrome bicycle frame, stainless steel arrow, hand carved wooden leaves, branch, taxidermy canary, 41″ x 8″ x 32″

Christian Ruiz Berman, Fronterizas, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 56″ x 78″ (56″ x 26″ each). From the Artist: In this painting, a mother coyote searches for her pup. The coyote not only references the border-smugglers who bear the nickname of the animal, but also the mothers who are constantly at risk of losing their children when they travel to find new opportunities. The painting is a tribute to the immigrant experience, and specifically a tribute to the mothers who risk everything to ensure the safety and future of their children. Some are mothers that are left behind by their grown kids, staying in places like Mexico as their partners or offspring travel to find a new life. As someone who immigrated to America with only my mom and brother, I have always felt kinship to the coyote, and its storied nature as a traverser of worlds and liminal spaces. The coyote mother in the painting carries a vine and flowers in her mouth; perhaps this is the gift of wisdom that will be bestowed upon her pup, and perhaps it is the trail that she leaves for all of us to follow in our path towards understanding love. The abstracted human, faces in the painting reference artificial intelligence, and symbolize the distance between our own experience and that of others in more precarious positions, and reference the layers of digital removal and manipulation that must be navigated. While people are still navigating physical barriers on a real desert, we are also increasingly being forced to navigate what’s real and what isn’t on our devices and screens. The faces contain shades of Frida Kahlo, shades of the robotic, shades of the Mestiza genealogy. They are a distillation of Mexican femininity, and a reminder that without caring for the other creatures and ecosystems on our planet, we may soon only exist as mere cartoons or memories of our physical selves.

Christian Ruiz Berman, Honeycreepers Harbingers (Eclipsed), 2024, Acrylic on panel, 15″ x 11″

Christine Rebhuhn, Gift Horse, 2023, Table frame, lacquer, leather, stainless steel horse bit, 61″ x 33″ x 55″

Christian Ruiz Berman, Life Cycle, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 36″ x 24″. From the Artist: This paintings references the three graces of Greek mythology. In this allegory, three women spin, pay-out, and cut the thread of a person’s life. This allegory inspires us to question to what degree we control our own destiny, and how much is controlled by either outside forces or by reality itself. Over time, masculine power structures like the church, the mosque, and the temple have replaced and/or erased the influence of the graces, as well as the related holiday of the three mothers (modranicht), which occurred during the winter solstice in pagan Europe. Millions of women who continued to revere the mothers/graces and other matriarchal rites were burned as witches, and any artistic trace of feminine worship was destroyed and buried in favor of patriarchal abrahamic symbols. A similar appropriation and subjugation of matriarchal symbology and authority occurred in Latin America when the Spanish encountered indigenous culture. In my paintings, birds take the place of the graces, and reference the tense and uncertain feeling of our current existence as a species perched on the edge of vast changes. The birds open a space of possibility, inviting us to enter, and to bravely reassess the traditions and structures that we’re beholden to. They offer the potential of a re-acquaintance and energization of ancient founts of knowledge; traditions that value the balance of feminine and masculine energies, and which challenge dualistic ideas of reality altogether. Vines and branches creep in from dark portals, symbolizing the indefatigable progress of life and beauty despite any fracture or disorientation. We can always escape. The triangle shape that the birds make with the rope or pearls in the paintings is a nod to a near universal utilization of the delta or trinity as a means of circumscribing the entirety of existence. When one takes a line- flat, featureless, devoid of potential, and adds a third point; there is suddenly an opening or portal. Possibility becomes reality and the options become infinite. In pre-columbian Mexico, people would shape their hearth in a triangular fashion, as it mirrored the shape of existence. Life-giving energy was produced in the triangular heat of fire, just as the cosmos gave birth to the stars and planets. The dimensions of the paintings are meant to loosely reference tarot or loteria cards, a decision that ties into the theme of fate and chance. “Life cycle” features a Mesoamerican amulet with a parent and baby child, and we can imagine that the figure is initiating their offspring into the cycle of destiny as offered by the three grackles in the work. There is a heavy influence of Japanese ukiyo-e printmaking, and the way that interior spaces are imagined in that tradition.

Christian Ruiz Berman, Live by the sword, die by the feather, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 36″ x 24″. From the Artist: This painting references the three graces of Greek mythology. In this allegory, three women spin, pay-out, and cut the thread of a person’s life. This allegory inspires us to question to what degree we control our own destiny, and how much is controlled by either outside forces or by reality itself. Over time, masculine power structures like the church, the mosque, and the temple have replaced and/or erased the influence of the graces, as well as the related holiday of the three mothers (modranicht), which occurred during the winter solstice in pagan Europe. Millions of women who continued to revere the mothers/graces and other matriarchal rites were burned as witches, and any artistic trace of feminine worship was destroyed and buried in favor of patriarchal abrahamic symbols. A similar appropriation and subjugation of matriarchal symbology and authority occurred in Latin America when the Spanish encountered indigenous culture. In my paintings, birds take the place of the graces, and reference the tense and uncertain feeling of our current existence as a species perched on the edge of vast changes. The birds open a space of possibility, inviting us to enter, and to bravely reassess the traditions and structures that we’re beholden to. They offer the potential of a re-acquaintance and energization of ancient founts of knowledge; traditions that value the balance of feminine and masculine energies, and which challenge dualistic ideas of reality altogether. Vines and branches creep in from dark portals, symbolizing the indefatigable progress of life and beauty despite any fracture or disorientation. We can always escape. The triangle shape that the birds make with the rope or pearls in the paintings is a nod to a near universal utilization of the delta or trinity as a means of circumscribing the entirety of existence. When one takes a line- flat, featureless, devoid of potential, and adds a third point; there is suddenly an opening or portal. Possibility becomes reality and the options become infinite. In pre-columbian Mexico, people would shape their hearth in a triangular fashion, as it mirrored the shape of existence. Life- giving energy was produced in the triangular heat of fire, just as the cosmos gave birth to the stars and planets. The dimensions of the paintings are meant to loosely reference tarot or loteria cards, a decision that ties into the theme of fate and chance. In “Live by the sword, die by the feather,” we are asked to contemplate the power of softness and the resilience of the tiny and delicate in contrast to the force of physical power and weaponry. An aztec warrior figure both wields and kneels precariously on a medieval sword; two realities split like parallel universes, but woven together by the coordination of three small birds and delicate yellow flowers. This is a painting that invites a consideration and perhaps a celebration of paradox; a tribute to both strength and forbearance. It includes stylistic nods to both Barragan and Paul Klee, as well as to the simple and colorful architectural forms often woven into indigenous Mexican textile work.

Christine Rebhuhn, Sappy Motherfucker, 2024, Wood, foam, bondo, plastic, paint, glass deer eye, 16″ x 42″ x 13″

Christian Ruiz Berman, Masquerade, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 36″ x 24″. From the Artist: This painting references the three graces of Greek mythology. In this allegory, three women spin, pay-out, and cut the thread of a person’s life. This allegory inspires us to question to what degree we control our own destiny, and how much is controlled by either outside forces or by reality itself. Over time, masculine power structures like the church, the mosque, and the temple have replaced and/or erased the influence of the graces, as well as the related holiday of the three mothers (modranicht), which occurred during the winter solstice in pagan Europe. Millions of women who continued to revere the mothers/graces and other matriarchal rites were burned as witches, and any artistic trace of feminine worship was destroyed and buried in favor of patriarchal abrahamic symbols. A similar appropriation and subjugation of matriarchal symbology and authority occurred in Latin America when the Spanish encountered indigenous culture. In my paintings, birds take the place of the graces, and reference the tense and uncertain feeling of our current existence as a species perched on the edge of vast changes. The birds open a space of possibility, inviting us to enter, and to bravely reassess the traditions and structures that we’re beholden to. They offer the potential of a re-acquaintance and energization of ancient founts of knowledge; traditions that value the balance of feminine and masculine energies, and which challenge dualistic ideas of reality altogether. Vines and branches creep in from dark portals, symbolizing the indefatigable progress of life and beauty despite any fracture or disorientation. We can always escape. The triangle shape that the birds make with the rope or pearls in the paintings is a nod to a near universal utilization of the delta or trinity as a means of circumscribing the entirety of existence. When one takes a line- flat, featureless, devoid of potential, and adds a third point; there is suddenly an opening or portal. Possibility becomes reality and the options become infinite. In pre-columbian Mexico, people would shape their hearth in a triangular fashion, as it mirrored the shape of existence. Life- giving energy was produced in the triangular heat of fire, just as the cosmos gave birth to the stars and planets. The dimensions of the paintings are meant to loosely reference tarot or loteria cards, a decision that ties into the theme of fate and chance. “Masquerade” plays with the presence of a masked shaman or spirit that emerges from the architectural structure of the painting itself, and is a meditation on the interplay between the individual and the universal in the dance of creation. There is something of the joker in this work, and it also pays homage to the Hindu idea of “Lila,” which is the eternal game of hide and seek that the godhead plays with itself by becoming a multitude of different beings and forms. The pieces of carved stone relief are taken from Mesopotamian ruins, and depict hands planting wheat or barley. Are you looking at the beginnings of human history, or is history looking at you?

Christine Rebhuhn, The Soprano, 2023, Archery bow, stainless steel violin edge, wire, taxidermy nightingale, 12″ x 63″ x 4″

Christian Ruiz Berman, Key to the Kingdom I, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 6″ diameter. From the Artist: In this series of seven small paintings, different species of kingfisher hold different intricate metal keys. The backgrounds vary, but some include references to the yin and yang of taoism, and generally the works can be seen as depicting the keepers of secrets and wisdom. The interplay between abstraction and realistic depiction of creatures has been a hallmark of my painting practice, and these small works are thus themselves a type of key to understanding my work as a whole. The first one of these works was inspired by a recent romantic connection, and the expression “you have the key to my heart” was very much floating in my subconscious. In that sense, they are also romantic works. In many world mythologies, birds are messengers and guides from one plane of existence to another, and so these kingfishers are also perhaps holding the keys to another such place or realm of knowledge.

Christian Ruiz Berman, Key to the Kingdom II, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 6″ diameter. From the Artist: In this series of seven small paintings, different species of kingfisher hold different intricate metal keys. The backgrounds vary, but some include references to the yin and yang of taoism, and generally the works can be seen as depicting the keepers of secrets and wisdom. The interplay between abstraction and realistic depiction of creatures has been a hallmark of my painting practice, and these small works are thus themselves a type of key to understanding my work as a whole. The first one of these works was inspired by a recent romantic connection, and the expression “you have the key to my heart” was very much floating in my subconscious. In that sense, they are also romantic works. In many world mythologies, birds are messengers and guides from one plane of existence to another, and so these kingfishers are also perhaps holding the keys to another such place or realm of knowledge.

Christian Ruiz Berman, Key to the Kingdom III, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 6″ diameter. From the Artist: In this series of seven small paintings, different species of kingfisher hold different intricate metal keys. The backgrounds vary, but some include references to the yin and yang of taoism, and generally the works can be seen as depicting the keepers of secrets and wisdom. The interplay between abstraction and realistic depiction of creatures has been a hallmark of my painting practice, and these small works are thus themselves a type of key to understanding my work as a whole. The first one of these works was inspired by a recent romantic connection, and the expression “you have the key to my heart” was very much floating in my subconscious. In that sense, they are also romantic works. In many world mythologies, birds are messengers and guides from one plane of existence to another, and so these kingfishers are also perhaps holding the keys to another such place or realm of knowledge.

Christian Ruiz Berman, Key to the Kingdom IV, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 6″ diameter. From the Artist: In this series of seven small paintings, different species of kingfisher hold different intricate metal keys. The backgrounds vary, but some include references to the yin and yang of taoism, and generally the works can be seen as depicting the keepers of secrets and wisdom. The interplay between abstraction and realistic depiction of creatures has been a hallmark of my painting practice, and these small works are thus themselves a type of key to understanding my work as a whole. The first one of these works was inspired by a recent romantic connection, and the expression “you have the key to my heart” was very much floating in my subconscious. In that sense, they are also romantic works. In many world mythologies, birds are messengers and guides from one plane of existence to another, and so these kingfishers are also perhaps holding the keys to another such place or realm of knowledge.

Christian Ruiz Berman, Key to the Kingdom V, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 6″ diameter. From the Artist: In this series of seven small paintings, different species of kingfisher hold different intricate metal keys. The backgrounds vary, but some include references to the yin and yang of taoism, and generally the works can be seen as depicting the keepers of secrets and wisdom. The interplay between abstraction and realistic depiction of creatures has been a hallmark of my painting practice, and these small works are thus themselves a type of key to understanding my work as a whole. The first one of these works was inspired by a recent romantic connection, and the expression “you have the key to my heart” was very much floating in my subconscious. In that sense, they are also romantic works. In many world mythologies, birds are messengers and guides from one plane of existence to another, and so these kingfishers are also perhaps holding the keys to another such place or realm of knowledge.

Christian Ruiz Berman, Key to the Kingdom VI, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 6″ diameter. From the Artist: In this series of seven small paintings, different species of kingfisher hold different intricate metal keys. The backgrounds vary, but some include references to the yin and yang of taoism, and generally the works can be seen as depicting the keepers of secrets and wisdom. The interplay between abstraction and realistic depiction of creatures has been a hallmark of my painting practice, and these small works are thus themselves a type of key to understanding my work as a whole. The first one of these works was inspired by a recent romantic connection, and the expression “you have the key to my heart” was very much floating in my subconscious. In that sense, they are also romantic works. In many world mythologies, birds are messengers and guides from one plane of existence to another, and so these kingfishers are also perhaps holding the keys to another such place or realm of knowledge.

Christian Ruiz Berman, Key to the Kingdom VII, 2024, Acrylic on panel, 6″ diameter. From the Artist: In this series of seven small paintings, different species of kingfisher hold different intricate metal keys. The backgrounds vary, but some include references to the yin and yang of taoism, and generally the works can be seen as depicting the keepers of secrets and wisdom. The interplay between abstraction and realistic depiction of creatures has been a hallmark of my painting practice, and these small works are thus themselves a type of key to understanding my work as a whole. The first one of these works was inspired by a recent romantic connection, and the expression “you have the key to my heart” was very much floating in my subconscious. In that sense, they are also romantic works. In many world mythologies, birds are messengers and guides from one plane of existence to another, and so these kingfishers are also perhaps holding the keys to another such place or realm of knowledge.

Christine Rebhuhn, Mother Tongue (with sting), 2023, Wood wrapped in leather, leather straps, horse bit, taxidermy bee-eater, 70″ x 70″ x 7″

About the Artists

Christian Ruiz Berman was born in Mexico City, and has a BA from Duke University, a masters in Landscape Architecture and an MFA in Painting from The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). His work spans various mediums, including painting, poetry, film, and sculpture. He has curated many exhibitions in NYC and beyond. Christian has had solo exhibitions with the Kemper Museum in Saint Louis, MO; Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL; Martha’s Contemporary, Houston, TX; and Outlet BK. His paintings have been included in many group exhibitions nationally and internationally, and his work has been reviewed and published in ArtMaze Magazine, New American Paintings, Hyperallergic.com, and others. In 2018-2019 He was a full-time AICAD diversity teaching fellow at Columbus College of Art and Design. Christian has attended the Marble House Project residency (VT), the Chatauqua Institute, Fountainhead, the Wassaic Project (NY) Plop Residency (London) and Jentel (Wyoming), among other competitive residencies. He has been an assistant professor of painting at Siena Heights University in Michigan, and at Webster University in St. Louis. Christian is interested in envisioning new ways to continue the tradition of Mexican and magical realist painting, as well as finding hopeful and joyful means of defining the shared human experience. He is interested in exploring theories of consciousness and interdependence, and in challenging the increasingly constrictive narratives of political purity and correctness in the art world and beyond. His personal interests include backpacking, fly-fishing, environmental conservation, poetry, and surfing. Christian has upcoming 2024/2025 exhibitions with Proyectos Monclova in CDMX and with Harper’s Gallery at NADA Paris.

Christine Rebhuhn (b. 1989 in Mount Vernon, Iowa) is a Queens based sculptor. She received an MFA in ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2015. She has had solo exhibitions at Thierry Goldberg Gallery in New York, NY, NARS Foundation in Brooklyn, NY, Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis, and at Makeshift in Kalamazoo, MI. Her work has been included in group shows at Swivel Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, New Collectors Gallery in New York, NY, Tiger Strikes Asteroid in Brooklyn, NY, the Boiler in Brooklyn, NY and at Stove Works in Chattanooga, TN, and exhibited at NADA New York with Swivel Gallery followed by a two- person show at Swivel gallery, Brooklyn. In 2015, Rebhuhn presented at the 2015 Gyeonggi International Ceramics Biennale in Incheon, Korea. She has participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center (VT), Elsewhere (NC), NARS Foundation (NY), and Makeshift (MI). Her work has been published in Forbes, ArtMaze Magazine, Maake Magazine, and Artspace Magazine.

Christine Rebhuhn & Christian Ruiz Berman: Perched on a Bowstring

Sep 12–Oct 12, 2024

Opening Reception: Sep 12, 6-8:30pm

Perched on a Bowstring

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