ART IN REVIEW Leisure/Weekend Desk; Section E; Part 2 Ulrich Ruckriem By KEN JOHNSON 238 words 30 January 1998 The

New York Times NYTF Page 36, Column 4 English (c) 1998 New York Times Company Ulrich Ruckriem Ace Gallery 275 Hudson Street SoHo Through Feb. 28 Born in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1938 and now living in London, Ulrich Ruckriem is a major figure in European sculpture. He works in quarries with massive chunks of rock that he splits up and reassembles, using industrial methods, in various rectangular configurations. This creates tension between raw geology and exacting geometry. The work exerts a certain monumental theatricality, but it is weighed down by its ponderous formality. In Ace's cavernous main hallway stand seven 10-foot-tall monoliths, each cut into four segments. Big as these stacks are, they have an intimate dimension. You can see the irregular hairline fracture between segments, and the surfaces have a pleasant rocky roughness. In other floor-bound works, blocks are precisely divided and subdivided into quadrants, Minimalist style. Holes left by drills create relatively delicately patterned borders. But mainly, it is the overall physical presence that impresses. In one huge square room, seven big low-lying blocks gathered together near the middle look like ancient funereal monuments. Alone in another gallery, a single, thick panel made of tan blocks framing a central gray block leans against a distant wall to heavily portentous effect. Such works can seem awesome in the context of these vast, shadowy spaces, but sculpturally they are rather inert. KEN JOHNSON Document nytf000020010918du1u005ne

Page 1 of 1

2011 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.