Maxwell Davidson Gallery is honored to present a solo exhibition for George Rickey, entitled INDOOR/OUTDOOR. This will be the gallery’s 16th show for George Rickey over the last 31 years, and will be comprised of works from the grand arc of Rickey’s career, including some of Rickey’s most recognizable imagery, his boldest variations, as well as some of his most delicate kinetic creations.
Rickey turned to sculpture in earnest when he was in his early forties – late by most standards – but his opus is deep thanks both the artist’s longevity and his tireless work ethic. George Rickey died in 2002 at the age of 95, and had only stopped creating sculpture about a year before his death.
Though he is perhaps most well known for his bladed “line” sculptures, Rickey’s work varied greatly over the span of six decades. At the start, Rickey’s work resembled Calder’s catenary systems, though those early mobiles soon evolved into the finely balanced sculptures, “little machines” as Rickey called them – swaying, rocking, and twisting – that gave Rickey his renown.
Along with the quintessential blades, Rickey used rotors, squares, triangles, and trapezoids. He often described them in rather utilitarian terms: Inverted Column or Five Lines Up or Two Lines in a T. There were other letters, too: Ls and Ms and Ws, and more poetic names such as Etoile, Portrait of a Lady, and Double Nudge. With INDOOR/OUTDOOR, Maxwell Davidson Gallery hopes once again to showcase the impressive career of George Rickey, whose relationship with the gallery was as enduring as the artist’s sculpture.
