Justin Ruby is a talented multimedia artist with a client list that includes boxing legend Mike Tyson. If you get up close, you’ll learn that his work is not only stunning, but has details rich with meaning as well.
Ruby came to Playboy’s attention for his work on an ongoing themed series based around the original magazine. Ruby talks to Playboy’s Colette Bennett about his inspiration for the series, gives us a peek into the rich subtext of each creation, and more.
Playboy: Tell me about the idea for doing this series. What made you want to do it?
Justin Ruby: The first one I started about two years ago. I didn’t know where to take my work. I was basically doing a lot of celebrity portraits for commissions. In 2021 I needed money so I was doing them, and it was good work.
So I had this memory where when my parents were getting divorced, they had all the boxes in the garage and I was kind of just meandering around. I was maybe seven. And I was opening the boxes to see what was inside and my dad had a box full of Playboys. It was the first time that I had experienced something like that.
I remember Jerry Seinfeld was on one cover. He was wearing Jordans. So, I made all him and then the nude on the bottom out of what’s called Cardinal 7s, which is a classic Jordan colorway that he was wearing. It was the idea of how products are related to celebrities and kind of also the celebrity as a product–Andy Warhol kind of talked about that a little bit.
The overall idea of the piece was kind of just funny at first. There’s a humorous element to it and there’s a light-hearted element. But then as I started developing some of the narratives…the first couple were solid background with these kids. And then there’s one with a girl holding it, which is a little bit different. In the most recent one I did, the dad is now in the scene, basically the presence of media in the household.
Playboy: Tell me the story behind the three kids looking at an issue together on the playground.
Justin Ruby: In this one, it’s the Michael Jordan interview, and I wanted to make it really big because Michael Jordan’s a really pivotal character. I was inspired by people saying “I had a stash here or there or somebody showed it to me at the park.” You have the older kid–this is basically what the previous pieces were, but now it expands a little and that you can see other younger kids. The girl’s face is confused and she’s seeing this kind of image of Miss America and what the beauty standard is. And then the other kid is actually, for the first time [in the series], encountering the viewer.
On top of that, this was the 1992 issue where they were interviewing Jordan about his run to the Olympics. So, I used the Olympic Jordan 7s, the original pair from 1992 [in the construction of the Playboy cover model]. And I used authentic 23k gold on the cover to reference the gold medals that were won. So there’s more thoughtful material involved.
Playboy: What’s been the public reaction to this series?
Justin Ruby: The thing I loved most about this series and what made me continue doing it was the shared experience aspect of it. Everybody was coming up and they were saying “When I was 8 years old I found it in my dad’s nightstand” or this one kid, “Me and my friends would go into my grandpa’s car, pull down the center console in the back seat and he had a box in the trunk and we would all look at them.” So people just come up and start telling these stories. And so it was really exciting to realize that everybody had this kind of shared experience and this memory so that was exciting.
Want more art? Read our interview with Sri Lankan artist Murugiah.
