This summer, American-Dutch artist Sterling Ruby takes over the rooftop of Marseille’s iconic Cité Radieuse with an exhibition that places his large-scale works in direct conversation with one of the most influential buildings of the 20th century. On view from June 27 to September 28, the show at MaMo by Ora Ïto brings together two major works, DOUBLE CANDLE (2018) and WALL (2017), in a site-specific presentation that merges architecture, memory, and material transformation.
ART
Ruby, long regarded as one of the defining voices of contemporary American art, presents DOUBLE CANDLE as a towering bronze sculpture over seven meters tall. Originally conceived in soft fleece, the form maintains the folds and seams of its textile origin, cast now in patinated metal with a green-blue surface reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty. Installed atop the brutalist rooftop of Le Corbusier’s “vertical city,” the sculpture both complements and confronts its architectural context. Equal parts sentinels and candles, the twin forms carry layered meanings, ritual, domesticity, and subtle evocations of the Twin Towers, quietly addressing collective memory and resilience.
Inside MaMo, visitors encounter WALL, Ruby’s largest work from his Spray Painting (SP) series. Stretching more than seven meters wide, the painting layers misty bands, drips, and faded horizon lines to evoke abstracted landscapes, industrial decay, or atmospheric barricades. Here in Marseille, it resonates with the legacy of southern French light and the region’s history as a haven for artists like Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Signac. Ruby, however, filters this tradition through a contemporary lens of ecological anxiety and urban collapse.
The placement of these two works, one a sculptural beacon in open air, the other a dense atmospheric canvas, creates a tension that animates the entire rooftop. Together, they reflect Ruby’s ongoing engagement with material histories, social structures, and the spiritual role of art in public space.
Organized in collaboration with Gagosian and supported by Zara Home, the Marseille installation also coincides with THE MOUNTAIN, a parallel Ruby exhibition opening in Gstaad, Switzerland on July 11. Known for his multimedia practice spanning sculpture, painting, ceramics, and installation, Ruby’s work is held in major global institutions including MoMA, the Guggenheim, Centre Pompidou, and Tate.
Founded by Ora Ïto in 2013, MaMo is housed in the former gymnasium of Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of modernism’s most radical experiments in urban living. Overlooking the Mediterranean from Marseille’s 8th arrondissement, the rooftop venue has become a cultural landmark, hosting exhibitions by artists such as Daniel Buren and Xavier Veilhan. With Sterling Ruby’s intervention, the space once again affirms its role as a charged site for art, architecture, and radical thought.
