56 HENRY - formerly 55 Gansevoort - is delighted to present “Polly Apfelbaum: Free,” the gallery’s inaugural exhibition.

A single line of handmade beads, suspended from the gallery ceiling, hangs at eye level for Polly Apfelbaum. Hundreds of beads gathered in ceramic bowls cover a square table. The beads pulse their individuality, and viewed from the gallery's front window, they read as planets in a strange sky. Each bead brings a dab of color, and hung at consistent intervals, their collective rhythm creates an expanding painting reaching beyond the confines of the space. During the opening, Apfelbaum will string necklaces from the beads gathered on her table. To those who help celebrate the opening of 56 HENRY, Apfelbaum will offer her necklaces as tokens of appreciation, scattering her painting back across the city that holds it.

Polly Apfelbaum’s previous solo exhibitions include Deep Purple, Red Shoes, Bepart, Belgium; Color Station, Lumber Room, Oregon; For the Love of Gene Davis (with Dan Cole), Temple Contemporary, PA; and Evergreen Blue Shoes, Burlington Art Center, Vermont. Recent group shows include Americana, Perez Art Museum, Miami; and Regarding Warhol, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Apfelbaum was the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize. Her work is held in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and those of other notable institutions. Apfelbaum’s work is currently included in Three Graces: Polly Apfelbaum, Tony Fehrer and Carrie Moyer at the Everson Museum, Syracuse; Karma Funk Farm, with Stephen Westfall, at The Suburban, Milwaukee; and Pathmakers; Women in Art, Craft and Design, Midcentury and Today at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C. Apfelbaum is represented by Clifton Benevento, New York; Frith Street Gallery, London; Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna; and Locks Gallery, Philadelphia.

Exhibitions at 56 HENRY are visible 24 hours a day. Gallery doors are open to the public on Thursdays, from 12:00 - 6:00 pm. For more information, please contact the gallery at (518) 966-2622.