RUBY Projects is pleased to present The Gospel in Brief, curated by Dr. Charles Moore, on view at La Ruche HTX. Bringing together new and recent works by Crystal Yara Anthony, Jessica Vollrath, Monica Ikegwu, and Kimberly Klauss, the exhibition reflects on faith, love, doubt, and moral responsibility through painting and portraiture.
The title The Gospel in Brief is drawn from Leo Tolstoy’s 1892 text, in which the author distilled the teachings of Jesus into a radical call toward simplicity, compassion, and action. In this spirit, the exhibition examines how conviction and uncertainty coexist, and how belief manifests not through doctrine but through lived experience.
Each artist approaches the human condition as both subject and mirror—revealing the quiet tension between internal faith and external form. Anthony’s works evoke intimacy and reflection; Vollrath’s compositions explore the fragility of perception; Ikegwu’s portraits render presence as moral inquiry; and Klauss’s paintings gesture toward transcendence through restraint.
Curated by LaRucheHTX Curator In Residence, Dr. Charles Moore, The Gospel in Brief echoes Tolstoy’s vision of ethics as a practice of love and empathy. The exhibition invites viewers to consider faith not as adherence, but as embodiment—to live, rather than merely profess, the truths we seek.
On view October 30 – December 13, 2025, at La Ruche HTX (1705 Ewing Street, Houston).
Opening reception Thursday, October 30, 6–8 PM.
Curator-In-Residence
Dr. Charles Moore is an art historian, writer, and curator based in New York and the author of The Black Market: A Guide to Art Collecting and The Brilliance of the Color Black through the Eyes of Art Collectors.
His exhibitions address themes of social justice, color theory, and abstract expressionism. He recently received his Doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College, researching the life and work of abstract painter Ed Clark. Moore is the winner of Harvard University’s Titus & Venus Legacy Award, the recipient of the Artis Curatorial Residency, a 2022 Tracksmith Artist Fellowship, and has participated in numerous international writing residencies. His books have been translated into more than ten languages.