Andra Ursuta’s sculptural installations unfold according to the slippery logic of dreams. Even at an art fair her dark sensibility can jolt weary viewers, but her work is best experienced in a ramshackle sign-less gallery like Ramiken Crucible, where its punk-critical stance resonates with the somewhat fugitive environment. Here, one confronts a large concrete panel installed on a post. Attached to the panel is a stuffed animal-like bird emblem, also in concrete. In contrast to its eyeless, mouthless face, its outspread wings and arms raised in flexion hint at better days. Behind this towering goalpost, billboard and barrier—all three interpretations are suggested in the anonymously authored, somewhat poetic gallery handout—Ursuta presents five large photograms on velvet, encased in thick protective frames. Each looks like an irreverent riff on an Yves Klein body print minus the signature blue. According to the statement, “These molts are perverted testaments to the meaninglessness of sport spectacles and their short-lived victories,” a sentiment most people who find their way to the gallery can get behind. Ask to see the underground black light installation too.
Pictured: Installation view of Andra Ursuta’s “Ο ΝÏ?τος θα εγερθεί ξανα,” at Ramiken Crucible, New York.