Public Events

Opening Reception
Friday, August 25
5–8 p.m.

Gallery Talk
Saturday, August 26
12 p.m.

Closing Reception
Friday, October 6
5–8 p.m.

Between Tin Men is a pivotal body of Amy Ruhl's past and recent works exploring our human condition and constructs, reanimating the great American fairy tale with narratives of revolutionary feminism, Marxism, and modern love. Through skillful, creative placements of video, performance, character and theatrics, Ruhl invites viewers to delve into the story of protagonist, Nimmie Amee (a minor character from L. Frank Baum's extensive Oz universe) and other characters (Polychrome: Daughter of the Rainbow, Moss Rose, Mommy, Tin Man 1 and Tin Man 2, General Jinjur, and Separatist Jinjur), all played by the artist. Nimmie, reanimated by Ruhl, is infatuated with a Tin Man who has already lost his heart to another metal lover. Embracing the carnivalesque, Ruhl complicates fanfiction with a delicate balance of a Situationists’ détournement as the story ponders intimacy with the inanimate and societal dissonance through illusions and allusions. Ruhl’s agility with mirrors, voyeurism and the gaze manifest as articulations within the ‘space between the artist and audience.’ Ruhl is a fierce collaborator with her creative visions embracing an unconstrained, broad artistic practice. Between Tin Men, like Ruhl’s other past and future projects including Popular Revolt, the Sunview Luncheonette, and Flowers in the Basement are ultimately shaped through communal, creative efforts each informing the other across time, space and place. Thus, her practice upstreams new possibilities to restructuring relationships between artists, venues and communities.