Aristides Ruiz, HOPPER'S PAYPHONE2000, watercoloron paper22\" x 30" | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, HOPPER'S PAYPHONE
2000, watercolor
on paper
22" x 30" | Private Collection

Payphones are one of those things in a city that you usually overlook. Asides from being a great place to stick a sticker or a stencil on, they have all but become more or less useless or even obsolete, since mobile phones became a major part of our everyday lives. Visual artist Aristides Ruiz however sees them in a different light; now turning the humble payphone into a protagonist, in an ongoing series of paintings based on photographs taken in New York City. Ruiz uses the payphone as an anchor to depict the emotion and beauty hidden in the mundane coming and going of urban life where his paintings are meant to convey not only the information contained in the original photos, but also the feeling of the moment that they were taken in.

left / Aristides Ruiz, GARDEN2001, watercoloron paper10 ½\" x 15 ½" | Private Collection

left / Aristides Ruiz, GARDEN
2001, watercolor
on paper
10 ½" x 15 ½" | Private Collection

right / Aristides Ruiz, PAYPHONE with TROPHY
2000, watercolor
on paper
10 ½" x 15 ½" | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, MOTT STREET2011, acrylic on hot press watercolor papermounted on board10 ½'' x 14 ¾'' | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, MOTT STREET
2011, acrylic on hot press watercolor paper
mounted on board
10 ½'' x 14 ¾'' | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz is a New York-based visual artist who has shown his work in gallery spaces across the USA. He has been a studio member at the Elisabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York since 2010.

[YatzerTip] EFA, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts is inviting the public to visit their resident artists’ studios in Manhattan during their participation in the Fashion District Arts Festival, on the 24th, 25th and 26th of October 2013. Please visit their website for exact opening times and other information.

Aristides Ruiz, LA LLAMADA (Delancey Street, NYC)2008, ballpoint pen on papermounted on board11 ¼\" x 16 ¼" | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, LA LLAMADA (Delancey Street, NYC)
2008, ballpoint pen on paper
mounted on board
11 ¼" x 16 ¼" | Private Collection

left / Aristides Ruiz, BEER n' SHAKE, 2001, oil over acrylicon canvas11\" x 16" | Private Collectionright / Aristides Ruiz, ORCHARD STREET PAYPHONE2004

left / Aristides Ruiz, BEER n' SHAKE, 2001, oil over acrylic
on canvas
11" x 16" | Private Collection

right / Aristides Ruiz, ORCHARD STREET PAYPHONE
2004, acrylic on watercolor paper
mounted on board
19 ½" x 29 ½" | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, ORO2009, ballpoint pen on hot press watercolor papermounted on board10 ¼\" x 15 ¼" image on 12" x 18 ¼" board | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, ORO
2009, ballpoint pen on hot press watercolor paper
mounted on board
10 ¼" x 15 ¼" image on 12" x 18 ¼" board | Private Collection

left / Aristides Ruiz, ALIVE WITH PLEASURE2002, watercolor and gouacheon paper13\" x 19 ½"

left / Aristides Ruiz, ALIVE WITH PLEASURE
2002, watercolor and gouache
on paper
13" x 19 ½"

right / Aristides Ruiz, The PAYPHONE and the KING
2001, watercolor
on paper
8 ¼" x 12 ¼" | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, EVELIO2012, ballpoint pen, graphite, acrylic mediumon paper mounted on board10 ¾\" x 16 ¼" | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, EVELIO
2012, ballpoint pen, graphite, acrylic medium
on paper mounted on board
10 ¾" x 16 ¼" | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, THE PELICAN and THE PAYPHONE.2008, acrylic on hot press watercolor papermounted on board10 ½\" x 14 ¾" image on 13" x 17" boardCourtesy

Aristides Ruiz, THE PELICAN and THE PAYPHONE.
2008, acrylic on hot press watercolor paper
mounted on board
10 ½" x 14 ¾" image on 13" x 17" board
Courtesy of Aristides Ruiz.

Aristides Ruiz, ATM2007, ballpoint pen on papermounted on board11 ¼\" x 16" | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, ATM
2007, ballpoint pen on paper
mounted on board
11 ¼" x 16" | Private Collection

Aristides Ruiz, PSYCHO2005, acrylic on watercolor papermounted on board11 ¼\" x 16 ¼" | Private Collection.

Aristides Ruiz, PSYCHO
2005, acrylic on watercolor paper
mounted on board
11 ¼" x 16 ¼" |
Private Collection.

Aristides Ruiz Pays Homage To New York’s (almost forgotten) Payphones

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