JOHN RUPPERT | BIOGRAPHY

"My interest in phenomena, both in my sources and in the way that I work…is what compels me to make sculpture." — John Ruppert

Over the past 35 years, John Ruppert has been working in cast metals; manufactured materials such as chain-link fabric; mixed media; and more recently, video, digital 3D printing and digital composite photography - all in response to where natural order and human decision-making meet, and the paradoxes that lie between. His work stems from a long tradition of artists who have been inspired by the grand and sublime beauty of the land, from the ancient Chinese poets and artists of Tao to the 19th century American landscape painters and more recently, to artists working directly in the landscape considering our relationship to the environment.

His interest in natural phenomena - both in source and in the way that he works - is what drives his creative practice.

Ruppert received his MFA from the School for American Craftsman, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, in 1977. Ruppert’s work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in museums, sculpture parks and galleries both in the United States and abroad.

These include Omi International Sculpture Park (NY), Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (NC), Kreeger Museum (DC), Katonah Art Museum (NY), 2010 Miami Sculpture Biennale (FL), National Museum of Contemporary Art (KUMU) in Tallinn, Estonia, Material Terrain, commissioned by Laumeier international Sculpture Park, St Louis (MO), which traveled to eight museums across the country and “Urban Garden” at the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in Boston (MA). curated by Nick Capasso of the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.

His sculptures were commissioned for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai and the 2012 West Lake International Exhibition in Hangzhou, China

Reviews of his work have been published in Art in America, the New Art Examiner, the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, and the New York Times with feature articles in Art China and most recently Sculpture magazine.

Ruppert has participated in several artists in residency programs and has received numerous awards including 5 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist grants, the Mary Sawyers Baker Award, which included an exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and most recently, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award.

John Ruppert, who is a full Professor and served as Chair of the Department of Art, for 13 years at the University of Maryland, College Park, has been on their faculty since 1987.

His studio is located in Baltimore.