Rita Maria Walburga Grosse-Ruyken (born 29 November 1948) is a contemporary German artist, sculptor, multimedia installation art, artfilm and performance, producer artist and member of the Association of German Artists Deutscher Kuenstlerbund. The core of her light – sound – space – form installations comprise sculptures in motion made from pure gold and silver. She became internationally known through her exhibition Rays of Light.
Career
Rita Maria Walburga Grosse-Ruyken was born in Donauwörth, and grew up in a hamlet in the Swabian-Danube region. From an early age she became aware of natural phenomena and followed phonetic sound bridges. After Abitur, from 1970 to 1972, she studied Romance and English Language and Literature at the LMU in Munich.
From 1971 to 1977 she studied free art (diploma) and art education (state examination and master's degree) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and dedicated herself to the art of the goldsmith under the guidance of Professor Franz Rickert und Hermann Juenger. She was also influenced by Professor Guenther Fruhtrunk, a constructivist painter as well as by the religious philosopher Aloys Goergen, the president of the academy. From 1977 to 1978 she studied art history and archeology at the University of the Sorbonne in Paris.
From 1983 on she has worked freelance dedicating herself to researching the transparency, colour, light and movement of sculptures. Since 1993, in her continual exchange with astrophysicists, musicians, philosophers, writers, sound technicians and architects, she has been expanding her activities into the performance art and into exploring of Primary Sounds produced by integrated sculptures made from pure gold and pure silver which create motion in and by themselves. Since 2008 she has been involved in the production of art films.
Samples of her work are included in the permanent collections of the International Design Museum, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich as well as the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin and MAK, Museum Angewandte Kunst (Frankfurt am Main).
Since 2008 she's creating art films. She's a member of Deutscher Künstlerbund e.V. Berlin, Bundesverband Bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler (BBK), GEMA and VG Bild-Kunst.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions (selection) 1981: The Prelude to the Round Dance – the Body as Vessel, With a Crown. Light-Form-Installation. Gallery Kröner, Castle Oberrimsingen 1985–2005: Installation SONNENDUNST – Zyklus I, Landakademie Rattenbach 1993: L'ESPRIT DE DIEU PLANAIT À LA SURFACE DES EAUX, The German contribution to the European City of Culture Antwerp 1994: L'ESPRIT DE DIEU PLANAIT SUR LES EAUX, Light-Form-Space-Installation. Die Neue Sammlung, International Design Museum, Munich 2003: IM GERICHTSSTAND. Licht-Klang-Form-Raum-Installationen. MAK, Museum Angewandte Kunst (Frankfurt am Main) 2004: DURCHFLUTUNG/RAYS OF LIGHT, Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York City & Goethe Institut, New York City 2009: RAYS OF LIGHT – Rita Grosse-Ruyken, MAK, Museum Angewandte Kunst (Frankfurt am Main) 2015: DURCHFLUTUNG AND THE WHITE STONE, ArtCOP21 Agenda culturel Paris Climat 2015 2019: The Power of The Heights Command: DURCHFLUTUNG und DER WEISSE STEIN. Blu-ray Disc Projektion, Haselbacher Muehle, Triftern
Group exhibitions (selection) 1979: Goldschmiede dieser Zeit. Körper – Schmuck – Zeichen – Raum, Kestnergesellschaft 1979: Körper – Zeichen, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, München 1981: Körper, Schmuck, Zeichen, Raum. Goldschmiedearbeiten, Museum of Design, Zürich 1984: Kirche heute. Architektur und Gerät. Süddeutscher Raum, Die Neue Sammlung, München 1993: Münchner Goldschmiede. Schmuck und Gerät der Gegenwart, Münchner Stadtmuseum, München 2004: Welt in Tropfen, (Urania, Berlin) 2007: Gulf Art Fair, Dubai (Galerie Thomas, München) 2009: Herbert Hoffmann Award 1973–2008, München 2011: Ausstellung Pinakothek München 2011: Modern Contemporary Art, Salwa Zeidan Gallery, Abu Dhabi Art 2012: Im Zeichen der Ewigkeit. Positionen zeitgenössischer Kunst, Neues Museum Kloster Schussenried 2012: Quinta Essentia, Deutscher Künstlerbund Berlin 2013: intimate, Frameless Gallery London 2018: KünstlerINNen. Zeitgenössische Positionen in Verbindung mit historischen Werken, Kunsthaus Burg Obernberg, Austria 2019: ITSLIQUID Group: ALCHEMIC BODY. THE LINE Contemporary Art Space, London 2020: VISION EUROPA. 30 Jahre Kultur und Geschichtsverein Vilshofen. Stadtturm, Vilshofen 2020: DURCHFLUTUNG III / RAYS OF LIGHT III. Danner-Preis 2020/100 Jahre Danner-Stiftung, The Design Museum, Pinakothek der Moderne, München