Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery is pleased to present Erika Ranee’s second solo exhibition at the gallery, opening Thursday, May 29 and running through July 11, 2025.
The astrological phenomenon known as a “Saturn Return” signals, to adherents, a powerful shift: when Saturn circles back to the position it occupied at the time of one’s birth, it often sparks major life changes. Happening roughly every 27 to 30 years, these periods are said to be linked to transformation and growth.
Erika Ranee’s new exhibition at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery celebrates the end of her second full Saturn Return. While Ranee doesn’t strictly follow astrological traditions, she embraces the Saturn Return as a symbolic marker of time—a way to chart the evolution of her life and practice over recent years. In this new body of work, she channels the energy of this transformative cycle into vibrant, richly layered paintings. Poured, sprayed, and brushed paint collide with collaged drawings of braided hair, fingerprints, coral, and intricate labyrinths. Personal reflections, found texts, and natural objects gathered during local travels are embedded into the surfaces, pushing the abstract language of her paintings into dynamic new territory. Ranee describes these works as visual diaries, mapping her inner world as she moves through pivotal moments of change.
Erika Ranee received her MFA in painting from the University of California, Berkeley and her B.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts, New York. She has recently participated in group shows at The Brooklyn Museum, The Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation, PPOW Gallery, Last Days Gallery, Bienvenu Steinberg & C, and Left Field Gallery. In 2024, Ranee had her first institutional solo exhibition at the Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech as well as a solo show at the Art Center at Duck Creek in East Hampton, NY. She is a recipient of an Anonymous Was a Woman Grant and a New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowship in Painting. She has been awarded studio grants from The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation, The Abrons Art Center, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Her work is in the collections of The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Flint Institute of Arts in Flint, MI, and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA.