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Location

California Building

2205 California St NE
#207B
Minneapolis, MN 55418
Map & Directions

ABOUT THE WORK

I am a visual artist working in traditional media such as oil paint, graphite, pastels, watercolor, India ink, and acrylic. I paint how it feels to inhabit my body. I consider art-making a necessary tool of adaptability, which helps me survive in the world as a disabled person. The practice of conceptualizing and then creating something that was once not there supports the production of new neural connections. These new neural connections help me repair my relationship with my body, which has previously internalized to hate itself from the rest of the world. It also supports me in conceiving futures in which all people have not only everything they need to survive but also thrive.

My works depict contorted, distorted, abstracted, and repeated portrayals of bodies, often my own. The bodies are rendered fragmented, fractured, ghost-like, and unfinished, or are reduced to lumpy flesh-like blobs of paint. Themes relating to survival, bodily catastrophe, cautious optimism, and the tension between control and surrender play out in my work through the use of layered compositions of bodily masses, highly saturated color palettes, and exaggerated scale. The act of incorporating joy and pleasure into these images through the use of vibrant color and playful texture is a necessary act in being able to imagine a future in which disabled people have everything they need to flourish. I practice defying internalized narratives about disability by incorporating forms that resist perceiving injury, deformity, or illness as unfavorable but rather celebrate and beautify the attributes that society generally regards as monstrous.

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Madison Rubenstein (any pronouns) is a visual artist from Bloomington, MN. They work out of their art studio located at the California Building in Northeast Minneapolis. Rubenstein has exhibited their work in several galleries and public spaces throughout Minnesota, including Co-Exhibitions, Anderson Center, Gamut Gallery and Public Functionary. In 2013 Rubenstein earned their BFA in Drawing & Painting from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. They completed their first artist residency at Elsewhere Studios in Paonia, CO fall of 2019. Rubenstein has been serving on Elsewhere’s board of directors since 2020. They received the 2023 Arts Midwest Artists with Disabilities Grant which funded their first solo-exhibition “Too Much”. Rubenstein works in studio 207B in the California Building and is open for California Building’s open studio events. You can also book a private viewing of their studio by emailing mrubenstein.info@gmail.com.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Patreon is the best way to offer me consistent and reliable support as a disabled small-business owner. Patreon subscribers receive unique stickers and/or prints in the mail every month that I make in small batches from my own Epson printer. This type of consistent and reliable financial support from my patrons helps me build financial consistency and security.

http://www.patreon.com/madisonrubenstein

$1 tier: “Vibes Only” For folks who want to follow my blog posts while supporting my business. No rewards in the mail.

$5 tier: “Sticker of the Month Club” access to my blog posts, along with receiving a special sticker in the mail every month.

$12 tier: “Sticker + Print of the Month Club” all the benefits of the $5 tier plus a 5 x 7 signed print in the mail every month.

$20 tier: “Just Along for the Ride” for those who do not want to receive rewards in the mail but wish to provided a higher monthly contribution.

Art-A-Whirl

Art-A-Whirl tornado logo Art-A-Whirl Main Page

Madison Rubenstein is open on Friday, Saturday & Sunday of Art-A-Whirl weekend.

SPRING PAINTING RELEASE : THURSDAY, MAY 16TH 7PM CST

NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS GET first access the day before ART-A-WHIRL®

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE 

FIND ME ALL THREE DAYS OF ART-A-WHIRL® IN MY STUDIO AT THE California Building, studio 207b

Accessibility info:
THERE IS A WHEELCHAIR RAMP ENTRANCE AND DISABLED
PARKING OFF 22ND ST.
THE ELEVATOR IS AT THE NORTHERN END OF THE BUILDING, PAST
THE MAIN LOBBY AND MAILBOXES.
TAKING THE ELEVATOR TO THE SECOND FLOOR BRINGS YOU DIRECTLY TO ON2GALLERY!
MY STUDIO IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER TO THE LEFT.

Online Sales

Madison Rubenstein has an external system for taking orders, separate from this website.

See available items below, or visit their external online shop.

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Commissions

Madison Rubenstein takes commissions.

Online Store

Madison Rubenstein has an external system for taking orders, separate from this website.

Events & Classes

Nothing scheduled yet – please check back soon!

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