Ricci Albenda
Panorama
May 5 - June 16, 2007


Andrew Kreps Gallery is pleased to present Panorama, Ricci Albenda's fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. It is comprised of two large works, each connected to themes explored previously in Albenda's work.

Panoramic Portal to Another Dimension (2007) occupies the entirety of the south wall of the gallery, and unites seamlessly with its neighboring walls. Unfolding into an endless horizon, it meanders through architectural space before circling back into the "real" architectural space of the gallery. The work's mode of abstraction is analogous to a fish-eye lens, although the work itself represents a 540 degree view (which is beyond the outer limit of a conventional panorama's 360 degrees).

Occupying the opposite wall of the gallery is Panning Annex (2007), a video sculpture which represents a true 360 degree panning loop. Though not perfectly seamless, Panning Annex unites with the existing gallery as a shifting trompe l'oeil extension of the space. This work comes out of Albenda's static Annexes, which were featured in his exhibit Tesseract at Andrew Kreps Gallery and in Projects 74 at the Museum of Modern Art (both in 2001).

The notions of the linear and cyclical as well as the relationship between these two models as perceptual and conceptual tools of understanding are core concepts linking these two individual works to one another and to their predecessors. This investigation was also manifest in Albenda's Universe pieces, which invert the 360 degree perspective (like being able to walk around a panorama instead of being surrounded by it), and in the relationship between the linear alphabet and the cyclical color wheel in his COLOR-I-ME-TRY projects.

Despite their commonalities the two works also operate in opposition, transforming the gallery into a polarized hall.

Ricci Albenda has exhibited at museums and galleries internationally including the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Site Santa Fe, Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, in Torino, Italy, the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, (S.M.A.K) in Gent, Belgium, and will be included in a show at the Tel Aviv Museum of Modern Art in 2008.


The exhibition will be on view from May 5th through June 16th. A reception will be held for the artist at the gallery on May 5th from 6 - 8 PM at 525 West 22nd Street, New York. For more information contact Erin Somerville at 212.741.8849, or erin@andrewkreps.com.