Ephemeral Illustrations Depict Quintessential ‘It Girls’
Diana Shi — Sep 18 2016
The Creator's Project
You catch sight of her from across the room, and your breath catches in your throat. Who is she? That is the question on the mind of viewers at Anthony Philip Fine Art in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where Ruth Shively’s haunting, monochrome illustrations are on display.
Shively brings an earnestness to her portraits, which highlight a ragtag group of female muses, winsome in spirit and stimulating in dynamism. Each girl brings to the show a beauty that transcends categorization by the male gaze, a quality projected through things like a soulful pair of eyes or a dramatic fashion piece. Shively captivates viewers with her flurry of artworks that convey an effortless of-the-moment style. Shively describes to The Creators Project her approach to creating mood through contrast: "I like to leave negative space with both my drawings and paintings, it leaves some sort of tension and leads the viewer to focus on the model and expression."—Read More
Ruth Shively’s ‘It Girls’ Really Do Have It All
Courtney Marino, Contributing Writer
September 16, 2016
NYU's Washington Square News
The sparkle that resides behind her eyes, the slight tilt at the edges of her smile, the strength that lives within her expression: these are the little things that Ruth Shively focuses on in her collection at Anthony Philip Fine Art, titled “It Girl,” that capture the essence of a 21st century woman. Her drawings, done mostly in charcoal and graphite, make use of the stark contrast that comes from the smallest details of her subjects.
Shively works with fashion photographers from around the world, collecting miscellaneous images from them and then using these photographs as a starting point for a deeper look into the spirits of modern women. They serve as her muses, and she is artistically driven to look past their obvious beauty, thus shattering superficiality with tension-creating graphite.—Read More
Ruth Shively was previously featured on The Nice Niche in April 2016...
http://www.theniceniche.com/this-week/ruth-shivley