b'I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often awoman. I was extremely lucky in my career to have the gift of anonymity.-Virginia Woolf -Janet RuttenbergPhotograph by Sarah BertalanArtYard was founded with the wish that art might serveback to her studio and transfers the studies onto enor- I am so grateful that many years later when I approachedhave lost her power to observe. And maintaining that an-as a catalyst for connection between disparate groups ofmous canvases, painting in oil on a ladder late into theJanet Ruttenberg about a show at ArtYard, miraculously,onymity over such a long prolific career allowed her to humans in an increasingly siloed world. No artist Ive en- night. Recently she has begun slashing vertical openingsshe agreed, only the second time in herprodigious careerdevelop an original authentic voice.countered since we first opened our doors embodies thisfor inserted neon tubes and cutting apertures for videothat her monumental paintings will have been seen. I had democratizing impulse better than Janet Ruttenberg, anscreens into her canvases, some of which have been inwritten her a long-winded letter explaining our mission,ArtYard is honoredto present Janet Ruttenberg: Beholder, artist of immense creative capacity, originality, curiositythe works for decades. She is a startling combination ofinviting her to explore our website, making the case. Herfeaturing Janet Ruttenbergs massive, joyous tableaux of and fearlessness. She is an outgoing recluse, an obses- meticulous, patient and improvisational. response in four words:I would be honored. Even this in- Central Parks Sheep Meadow, a 59-foot-long installation sive observer of human nature, and a person whose workteraction telegraphed: No time for letter writing. Only timeofstainlesssteeletchings,hertangoprojectionpaint-ethic is propelled by an urgent impulse to seize the day.I first encountered Janet Ruttenbergs monumental paint- to agree and get back to work. ings, and a reverse engineering investigative study of a Ruttenberg trains like an athlete to endure her physical- ingsat a rare exhibition at the Museum of the City of Newbeloved print by Mary Cassatt. It may be some time be-ly demanding artistic practice, spending countless hoursYork. It had reportedly taken a great deal of coaxing forJust before the exhibition opened I was invited to dinnerfore these works are assembled together in one place. We sketching on enormous sheets of paper in Central Park,Ruttenberg to allow the work to be seen. It wasnt just herin her home. That was where I heard her say,I was ex- are fortunate to have the opportunity to capture this rare takingphotographsandvideo.Encampedlikeabirdmastery of technique that impressed me. I was moved totremely lucky in my career to have the gift of anonymi- experience here in this publication.watcher under a tree, she films a homeless man draggingdiscover that this unknown woman then in her eighth de- ty. Ruttenberg has made her own world purposely in the a suitcase beside a couple having public sex. She sketchescade was a fearless creative adventurer, as curious aboutshadow of a celebrity-drunk and market-driven art world.Jill Kearneythe revelry, the arguments, the beauty of tattoos on thenew technologies as she was about the intimate lives ofShe is a different kind of outsider artist: highly trained, human form, the blinking of the Essex building sign, thestrangers in the park. art-literate,but fiercely protective of her camouflage. IfExecutive Director first three letters obscured by a branch, announcing SEXshe had been noticed observing in the park, she mightArtYardas the subtitle of the cityscape.At dusk, she carts the work ArtYard is an incubator for creative expression and a catalyst for collaborations that reveal the transformational power of art.4 5'