ALLEN RUPPERSBERG

25 Ways to Start Over centres on a set of wall-mounted puzzles, scaled up and turned on axis to occupy the space ofpainting. The underlying scenes are dense digital collages of his own past work or select memorabilia; some standaloneprints, others transferred to wood panels and then subject to further manipulation. Presenting already fragmentedimages cut into loose parts to align or disassemble, Ruppersberg backs each puzzle with a magnetic sheet for easeof interaction, and shows the works with key pieces set off to the side—a tacit bid to complete them. These so-called”whimsy pieces” break from the ridges and furrows found in a standard jigsaw, with striking silhouettes that often echohis oblique self-portraits from decades past. This interlocking format can imply a certain tidiness of thought, when all fallsinto place—but Ruppersberg alludes instead to a puzzle’s contingency, its power to remain unfixed.

A similar provisional quality attends a set of works on pegboard, commonly found in hardware stores and tool sheds tokeep useful things close at hand. Ruppersberg is drawn to this come-one-come-all structure for its endless adjustability,and he hangs his with vintage record albums, framed illustrations, and pulp paperbacks. The boards themselves arepatterned with covers of midcentury dime novels that were written under pen names (Ruppersberg himself has used thename Al Reed in his own output from time to time). An artist’s book that accompanies the exhibition reveals the identitiesof dozens of pseudonymous authors, with entries that detail their backstories and reflect on the freedom that a littleartifice can afford.

A final work fills a gallery wall with a swarm of images pulled from the sleeves of video cassettes, salvaged from theOhio store Ruppersberg’s sister once operated. The tapes’ decorative packaging was meant to draw the eye in a retailexperience that can no longer be had, and Ruppersberg simultaneously embraces and sends up our nostalgia for whatwe leave behind. Starting over, for him, is rooted in collective history—finding potential in its remainders. The worksweigh where we’ve been and offer a sundry catalog of the key dilemmas in the life of an artist: how to stay at it, circleback, keep it fresh, make something meaningful, and then do it again.

Press release courtesy Greene Naftali