Jesse Benson at Michael Benevento
Artist: Jesse Benson
Venue: Michael Benevento, Los Angeles
Date: March 28 – May 23, 2015
Full gallery of images, press release and link available after the jump.
Images:
Images courtesy of Michael Benevento, Los Angeles
Press Release:
Michael Benevento is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Jesse Benson. This is his first exhibition with the gallery.
The artist’s most recent series of oil paintings depict objects stored in a nondescript room at an FBI branch office. These objects, a collection of seized forgerries and other collected imagery, sit stacked on the floor and against the walls while awaiting curatorial distribution throughout the Bureau’s workspace by the volunteer office decor team.
Aesthetically located between Photorealist, Hyperrealist, and Surrealist Painting, Benson’s “Bureau paintings” are rendered as extremely tight, but occasionally strangely flat. The depicted room seems to show objects suspended in limbo, within an empty, yet claustrophobic space. The views of the space are subtly warped by perspectival effects and lens distortions.
Each “Bureau Painting” is painstakingly detailed and handled with extreme care, showing intense commitment to the reproduction of the chosen imagery. These works are consistent with Benson’s ongoing interests in the distribution and control of information, and the ownership/authorship of imagery and the document.