Barnaby Ruhe is an American artist and university academic who has described himself as a bodhisattva. Ruhe teaches at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Gallatin School of Individualized Study The Gallatin School of Individualized Study is a liberal arts school within New York University. Students at Gallatin design an interdisciplinary concentration based on their specific interests and career goals. Most courses can be taken at any ...

, and is perhaps best known for his painting marathons, otherwise known as endurance feats. His

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

studio is located within the

Westbeth Artists Community Westbeth Artists Housing is a non-profit housing, nonprofit housing and commercial complex dedicated to providing affordable living and working space for artists and New York City arts organizations, arts organizations in New York City. The comp ...

Early life and education

Ruhe obtained his B.S. from the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...

in 1968, his M.F.A. from the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, it is regarded as one of ...

in 1975, and his PhD from

in 1989 in shamanism and art practice, a degree which combined psychology, anthropology, art history, phenomenology, and studio art.

Career

Ruhe was senior editor of ''Art/World'' newspaper in the 1980s and 1990s and wrote the first

reviews of work by

Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various a ...

and The Starn Twins, as well as essays on

Francisco de Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, a ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

, and

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...

. Ruhe currently serves on the board of Artists Talk on Art. A romantic artist, he incorporates sentiment, gesture and psychic journeying into his paintings, and he runs shaman healing workshops at Shamandome Camp at the

Burning Man Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the penultimate night of the event: the ...

festival each summer. In an interview with Alexander Steedman Ruhe however describes himself as being more of a

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

than a shaman in life practice in remarking ... "I am not a Shaman. I am a Bodhisattva.”,,, “a person brought on life to entertain the souls of all the other people out of love and sheer delight" ... Ruhe is also well known for his yearly recreation of the persona of an artist in the NYC Halloween Parade. He has taken on the role of such artists as

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

, and

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

, all executed while painting in tandem with moving down the avenue during the celebration. Ruhe also appeared on the television program "

That's Incredible ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the ABC television network from 1980 to 1984. In the tradition of ''You Asked for It'', '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and '' Real People'', the show featured people ...

" demonstrating his "

William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

" trick which consists of splitting an apple on his own head with a self-propelled boomerang. Ruhe has been the Captain of the United States Boomerang World Cup team. Baranaby's uncle Ben Ruhe was a foremost expert on the Boomerang and a noted author on the subject, having penned the volume "Boomerangs". Ruhe's work was the subject of a solo exhibition ''Regenesis'' at the

Baum School of Art The Baum School of Art is a non-profit community art school located in Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvan ...

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

which ran from September 20 until October 20, 2018.

References

External links

Biography
from NYU Gallatin School
"Bright and brief"
from ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

''
enthusiasts crack eggs en route to national champ"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruhe, Barnaby Date of birth missing (living people) Living people American portrait painters New York University faculty Shamans American contemporary painters New York University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)