Andamio (Temporary Frameworks)
Art in General, New York
27 January – 31 March 2007

January 27 – March 31, 2007
Opening reception: Saturday, January 27, 6 – 8 PM

As part of its New Commissions Program, Art in General is pleased to announce a new sculpture by Alejandro Almanza Pereda.

Almanza Pereda was born in 1977 in Mexico City, where, he notes, “If you weren’t looking where you were going, you could just fall down a hole.” His frequently dangerous-looking installations and sculptures intentionally appear incomplete; his work acknowledges environments inhabited by the working class and pays homage to the delicate balancing act that constitutes life. Like Duchamp and the many iconoclasts who have expanded on the famous Dadaist’s esthetic, Almanza Pereda employs household furniture, appliances, fixtures and fluorescent lights in his intentionally un-pretty, yet delicately constructed work, which challenges the notion of safety while calling attention unavoidable fact of impermanence.
Moving to the U.S. dramatically influenced the direction of Almanza Pereda’s work, as he became fascinated by public safety issues and how they had been addressed in a much more laid back manner in his native country than they were in El Paso, where he moved in 2001 to study art. He started making precarious sculptures with a distinctly Mexican attitude, using simple building materials including wood, duct tape, plastic, caution tape, buckets of water and exposed electrical wires, among other things. He has constructed sculptures that defy the inherent properties of the materials he uses, including their weight, scale and fragility. For instance, he has suspended heavy bricks over delicate light bulbs, set a lamp on a slanted night stand and suspended a television in the air with its own electric cable. By creating seemingly unstable structural environments that seem disasters on the verge of happening, Almanza Pereda playfully calls attention to gravity, materiality and security.
Additional support for Alejandro Almanza Pereda has been provided by the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation.

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‘Andamio’, 2007. Fluorescent light bulbs, forged steel clamps, ballasts, wood.
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‘Andamio’, 2007. Fluorescent light bulbs, forged steel clamps, ballasts, wood.
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‘Andamio’, 2007. Fluorescent light bulbs, forged steel clamps, ballasts, wood.