Aaronel deRoy Gruber during a gallery exhibition, circa 1960s. She is known for her vacuum-formed acrylic in distinct translucent colors.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE IRVING AND AARONEL DEROY GRUBER FOUNDATION
Set to open Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14 followed by a kickoff reception on Feb. 16, Trina Turk and the Irving and Aaronel deRoy Gruber Foundation will present original works by deRoy Gruber (1918-2011), a prolific, pioneering female artist whose vibrant, volumetric plexiglas sculptures and jewelry, and striking screen prints and canvases brought her recognition as a multifaceted modernist visionary throughout the mid-20th century.
The curated installation at Trina Turk’s flagship Palm Springs boutique will include a range of deRoy Gruber’s plexiglas sculptures featured in the corner showcase, and the artist’s distinctive plexiglas jewelry and screen prints integrated throughout the store. Open to the public through Feb. 27, the sculptures — several of them kinetic and with lighting features — will be visible from North Palm Canyon Drive throughout each day and evening.
Capturing the synergy between deRoy Gruber's optimistic modernist works and the vivid, confident essence of the Trina Turk brand, this unique project is a celebration of Palm Springs. The artist's premiere West Coast solo exhibition opened in 1972 at Galerie du Jonelle on East Tahquitz Way, owned and curated by collectors Nelda and Joe Linsk, with installation setting in collaboration with renown designer Arthur Elrod.
deRoy Gruber’s geometric sculptures are carefully orchestrated arrangements of vacuum-formed acrylic in distinct translucent colors. Widely collected today, deRoy Gruber's work was recently included in Moving Vision: Op and Kinetic Art of the Sixties and Seventies at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and is in the permanent collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art in Japan, and several other modern art collections around the world.
A California local, Turk is inspired by the Golden State’s multicultural mix, creativity, architecture, and landscape. Founded in 1995 by Trina and her late husband, photographer Jonathan Skow, as a women’s clothing collection, Trina Turk has evolved into a print and color driven lifestyle brand, now including swimwear, Mr Turk menswear, eyewear, and residential soft goods.
The first and flagship retail store opened in Palm Springs in 2002 as part of the revitalization of the city’s Uptown Design District. Turk is an active philanthropist in the desert, giving back to arts, architectural preservation, education and healthcare causes.
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