Artist Residency: Ricci Albenda

In his regular feature, "Artist Residency," Aubrey Mayer takes a photo of one of his favorite artists and ask him/her a series of simple questions. Here is Ricci Albenda, a conceputal artist who shows at Andrew Kreps Gallery.

Aubrey Mayer: Where are you from? Ricci Albend: Brooklyn, originally, but I grew up on Long Island.

AM: Where do you live?
RA: Williamsburg

AM: How did you become an artist?
RA: How does anyone become an artist? You like making stuff -- and you just keep doing it more and more. Maybe you start liking thinking about what you make, questioning it.

AM: What is the oddest job you've ever had?
RA: I’ve never had a job that was odd enough to upstage the people I worked with. For a while I was a back-bartender at an old piano bar/restaurant in Greenwich Vllage -- that was pretty colorful.

AM: Who's your favorite non-living artist?
RA: Impossible to name one -- so many. Oddly the first name that popped into my head was De Chirico. then Manet, then Rodin, then Brancusi -- after that it just starts to fan out. But how could I have forgotten Guston? I love Guston.

AM: What book are you reading right now?
RA: I just started this book by Alan Watts called This is It. I liked the title -- it’s a collection of essays on Zen and spiritual experiences. It’s the first time I’ve read a book about anything like that.

AM: When are you happiest with your work?
RA: I can get very excited about my work in the middle of the night -- something about the quiet -- and, possibly, the sleep deprivation.

AM: What do you find most sexy?
RA: Skinny hips

AM: What is your favorite piece of art that you own?
RA: I can’t answer that question. The artworks that I own are like my children -- I love them all equally.

AM: What is your favorite walk?
RA: The beach -- all day long until sunset.

AM: When and where is your next show?
RA: Spring, 2009 in Dallas

Ricci Albenda was photographed by Aubrey Mayer at his home in Brooklyn on Feb. 29, 2008.

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Past artists:

Tony Just

Ari Marcopoulos