Keith Benjamin: while back
@ RUSCHMAN
4148 N. Elston Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618
Opening Saturday, August 5th, from 5PM - 8PM
On view through Saturday, September 2nd
while back
New works by Keith Benjamin
RUSCHMAN
4148 N. Elston Ave.
August 5 – September 2, 2023
Opening reception: Saturday, August 5th, 5 – 8PM
RUSCHMAN is very pleased to present “while back”, a solo exhibition of new sculptures and arrangements by Keith Benjamin. For over three decades, Benjamin has pared down and constructed objects from entirely repurposed materials, utilizing the leftovers, remains, and oft-discarded elements of a life lived. The resultant artworks necessarily always look to the past with their implied previous uses rarely hidden, only modified, while presenting tenderly humorous approaches toward (re)viewing a ridiculous present and a potentially optimistic future.
Old flip phones, discarded kitchen appliances, clothing that has worn through, beer and soda boxes, cardboard, twist ties, food containers, rubber, wood, wire, rusted toolboxes, things that have served their purpose and/or are ready to retire, are all part of the studio’s economy and ecosystem. Spent lighters are cut open and present bouquets of salvaged twist ties. An old refrigerator shell is cut into strips and woven back together with denim seams. Cardboard boxes adorned with images of condensation are cut into comically-shaped droplets and placed on-top-of and in-between cell phones in a half-joking/half-shocking gesture toward one of our worst nightmares and greatest annoyances. Nothing is bought for the purposes of art production; but instead for the purposes of living—food, rest, shelter, the maintenance of the home, and the necessity for interspersed moments of leisure. Gathered from every corner of domestic life, these reprocessed materials have been organized by various shades of blue, (color)coded into the realms of both work and feeling. We can laugh about the blues, and also keep going.
KEITH BENJAMIN is a sculptor living and working in the Cincinnati region. His creative practice is an ongoing process of re-valuing and re-arranging the objects and materials from his home. He received his MFA from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and is Professor of Sculpture at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he also serves as the Studio Arts Department Chair. In 2011 he was awarded a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. From 1998 to 2005 he operated the venerable Warsaw Project Space in Cincinnati, OH.
Pictured: Keith Benjamin. “arrangements: mon. and wed.”, 2022, lighters and twist ties, 4h x 3/4w x 1/2d in. (each)
Official Website
More events on this date
Tags: Chicago, Keith Benjamin, Ruschman, while back
« previous event
next event »