Tristeza II

Ulterior Gallery is pleased to present Tristeza II, a solo exhibition introducing new works by Keren Benbenisty. The artist’s attempt to cultivate a blue orange is at the center of Tristeza II, which consists of a video and works on paper that examine the theme of return to and migration from one’s supposed homeland. Return and migration seem like opposite moves, but disentangling the “leaving” from the “return” turns out to be impossible. Each movement holds, perhaps is even trapped in, its potential opposite. The video—also named "Tristeza," a lethal virus that infects citrus trees and the Spanish/Portuguese word for "sadness"—addresses the duality that the orange represents for Benbenisty personally. Exploring pasts, presents, and futures-that-could-have-been, the works of the show convey a sense of failure and impossibility that capture her ambivalent feelings about the land of her birth. Ulterior Gallery, first established on Attorney Street on the Lower East Side of NYC, expanded into its current space in SoHo in spring 2022. Founded in 2016 by Takako Tanabe, a Japanese gallerist originally from Tokyo, Ulterior is committed to the exhibition of works by an array of intergenerational artists from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Ulterior Gallery is located at 424 Broadway, #601, New York, NY 10013, the top floor of a designated landmark building near the crossing of Canal and Broadway. For further inquiries, please contact Takako Tanabe: