PiecedTogether. Exhibition

Albany Center Gallery (ACG) presents PiecedTogether.. The exhibition runs from June 11 to July 13, 2024. This exhibit features the works of three local artists: Wenda Habenicht, Cris Ortiz, and FRANC PALAIA. An Artists’ Reception will be held on Friday, June 14, 2024 from 5 - 8 p.m. PiecedTogether. is free and open to the public; Tuesday - Saturday, Noon - 5 p.m.

Click here to view the exhibition online

The exhibition showcases different subjects or visuals found in our daily lives that are assembled through different perspectives and mediums. Artists in this show use these elements to create a dynamic flow in each work. PiecedTogether. focuses on the familiarity that surrounds us, but configured in a unique way that may be unknown to some. Through mixed media, photography, and neon, this exhibit serves to expand and redefine what is familiar in our own surroundings.

Wenda Habenicht grew up in Boulder, Colorado and graduated from Beloit College in Wisconsin before moving to New York City to earn her MFA at Columbia University. While living in Brooklyn, New York, she created numerous large-scale, outdoor, architecturally and/or anthropomorphically derived sculptures which were exhibited in the United States and Canada. After a twenty-two year hiatus from making art, Wenda started taking photographs in 2012 and began developing her series of digital photographic diptychs. Wenda thinks of her photographs as found objects to juxtapose and combine in unexpected ways to create a new context or scenario that will conjure a depth and variety of open-ended associations. She is always looking for a combination of images that will capture the attention of viewers and invite them to visually enter and investigate the curious and mysterious space and logic of her photographs. Wenda’s photography is ultimately about her belief in the importance of the act of seeing and her enthusiasm for the visual experience.

Cris Ortiz is a first-generation Mexican American who has called various places home in the United States: the Catskills, Chicago, L.A., and East Texas. Introduced to using neon as a medium to paint environments at Chicago’s SAIC, Cris studied animation, worked in the game industry, and for nonprofits like the Museum of Neon Art. Cris is an artist who is fascinated with the dynamic capabilities of authentic neon. Through the power of neon, Cris Ortiz intends on using this medium to highlight indigenous Mexican motifs, small sculptures that reference topics of nature, and producing alternative lighting sources.

FRANC PALAIA is a multi-disciplinary visual artist and works professionally as a painter, photographer, muralist, sculptor, book artist, independent curator and musician. His encyclopedic resume includes over 350 group exhibitions and over 45 solo shows, regionally, nationally and internationally. FRANC has been photographing walls, murals, signs, billboards, street art and graffiti since 1976. In his travels to 26 countries, he has accumulated thousands of urban wall images. FRANC feels that you can get a sense of a country by what’s on its walls. He has a saying: walls are drop cloths of a society. The irony of these mixed media photo-sculptures is that they look extremely heavy, but are actually feather light (they only weigh a few pounds each); they look old, but they are brand new; and they look real but they are completely fabricated.

The exhibition is made possible by ACG Premier Sponsor Kevin Dubner, Partner & Wealth Manager at Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC. Additional support is provided by HIG Construction, Ann Pfau & David Hochfelder, Kendall Gardner, and the New York Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and New York State Legislature. This exhibition is also made possible in part by the Albany for All funding program and the President's American Rescue Plan (ARPA).

PARKING IN DOWNTOWN ALBANY?

On-Street parking is available adject to the Albany Center Gallery. Please note that Parking Meters are in effect Monday-Friday from 8am until 5pm. Guests can easily pay for on-street parking using the ParkAlbany app: https://app.parkalbany.com/

Additional parking for the Albany Center Gallery is available at the nearby Riverfront Garage located right off Broadway at 2 Columbia St. Both Handicap parking and EV charging spaces are available at this location. Parking rates may vary by date, for more information visit www.parkalbany.com/find-parking