Alejandro Almanza Pereda “Apparent Weight”
Y Gallery (319 Grand St.)
This event has ended.
Y Gallery presents Apparent Weight, the first solo exhibition by Alejandro Almanza Pereda in its new space. Seven photographs that feature compositions of everyday objects in new and unexpected ways comprise the present show. In them, Almanza Pereda continues to create whimsical assemblages that seem to defy gravity and equilibrium. In previous installations, the artist has used fluorescent tubes, old furniture, home appliances, among other everyday objects exploring the notions of danger and safety, fragility and weight, tension, etc. These recent works continue to deal with those concepts as well as the premise of being created under water. His first experiments about submerged objects began around 2006 and continued to develop during his MFA at Hunter College where he created his own plywood aquarium. Since that moment he has continue to develop this research inspired by the tradition of the still life and specially the vanitas.
The works here shown are part of the results of the artist’s explorations developed during a residency at the San Francisco Art Institute (2015) and the ASU Art Museum International Artist Residency at Combine Studios, Phoenix (2014). In both cases, swimming pools and a custom made Kevlar water tank water tank was used to create these captivating and surreal scenes. Almanza Pereda used the Walter and McBean Galleries at SFAI as his studio for experimentation and production of new works, in which he could literally swim and create still lives, and in the third month the gallery exhibited the resulting photos and videos of his exploration.
The title of the exhibition comes from the concept in physics of the same name stating that the apparent weight of an object will differ from the weight of it whenever the force of gravity acting on it is not balanced by an equal but opposite normal force. It is usually apply to the weight of an object submerged or in special gravitational situations.
In the essay Alejandro Almanza Pereda: Everything but the kitchen sank its author Amanda Nudelman states:
The unlikely compositions challenge the viewer’s preconceptions of the objects presented, provoking questions about how various groupings and relationships may further inform the significance of the photographs. Pereda’s subversion of function implicates both the ontology of the objects and the viewer’s personal experiences of similar or resonant materials in constructing meaning.
Alejandro Almanza Pereda (1977, Mexico) received his MFA from Hunter College in New York City. His has done solo shows in different institutions like San Francisco Art Institute; Stanley Rubin Center, El Paso TX; Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City; College of Wooster Art Museum Ohio; Art in General New York City. Among other group shows, his work has been featured at the Arizona State University Museum; Dublin Contemporary 2011, 6a Bienal de Curitiba Brazil, Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, El Museo del Barrio and the Queens Museum, both in New York. Alejandro has attended the Skowhegan summer program as well as a grant recipient from FONCA 2006-08, the CIFO Grant Program, the Harpo Foundation Grant program and the Harker Award for Interdisciplinary Studies,. His work can be found in collections as Goetz Collection, Kadist Collection, ASU Museum, Museo Del Barrio, Colección Jumex, Museo de Arte de Lima. He is currently a member of La Rubia te Besa an art band project. He lives and works between New York and Mexico City.
Media
Schedule
from March 04, 2016 to April 10, 2016
Opening Reception on 2016-03-04 from 18:00 to 21:00