George Rickey, “Two Open Triangles Up,” 1982, stainless steel, AP 0/3, 116½ by 57–101½ by 9 inches; ©Estate of George Rickey, courtesy Marlborough Gallery, New York.

FOR 3/7

MARLBOROUGH CHELSEA, GEORGE RICKEY;

W/1 CUT

AK/CD #730596

NEW YORK CITY — Marlborough Gallery, Chelsea, will open an exhibition of sculpture by George Rickey March 13 in the new Chelsea gallery at 545 West 25th Street. This will be the first New York exhibition of the artist’s work since his death in 2002, and will remain on view through April 12.

Rickey is regarded as among the most inventive and influential sculptors of the Twentieth Century. His iconic kinetic works were the outgrowth of experiments with wire and metal that began during his service in World War II. By the late 1950s and 1960s he reduced sculptural forms to simple, geometric shapes and largely limited his materials to stainless steel, creating a body of work that is a fascinating combination of minimalism and movement.

Marlborough’s show will comprise 27 sculptures representing a survey of Rickey’s kinetic investigations and inventions from 1961 through 2000. Rickey’s minimalist forms appear magical, often whimsical, creating an elegance of motion through space and time. Even at large scale they are remarkable for their lightness and delicacy. Central to the work’s concept is motion and balance that is totally dependent on complex environmental conditions.

Rickey’s sculpture appears deceptively simple; it is, in its conception and effect, both subtle and complex. He explored a world of light, line and shadow, and combined with technical innovations that capture and respond to changing air currents, wind and other natural phenomena, created intricate sculptural configurations that move in space.

George Rickey was born in 1907, in South Bend, Ind. He studied modern history at Oxford, took courses in painting and drawing at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine art, went to Paris to study art at the Academie L’hote and at the Academie Modern and after the war he studied Bauhaus teaching methods at the Chicago Institute of Design, where he seriously began to consider the idea of bringing together geometric form and movement.

Rickey received honorary doctorate degrees from nine institutions and was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1974 and received the gold medal for sculpture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1995.

Rickey’s work is in major museums throughout the world, including The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City; Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; The High Museum of American Art, Atlanta; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; The Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas; The Museum of Modern Art, New York City; The National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland; The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; New Orleans Museum of Art; Tate Gallery, London; Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft, Munich, Germany; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City.

Marlborough Chelsea, International Public Art Ltd, is at 545 West 25th Street. For information, 212-463-8634 or www.marlboroughgallery.com.