I bully and beg my way through these paintings. The process is extremely improvisational within a finite set of rules. Snow is white, trees are brown and gray, rivers are blue, there are no humans or technology. My intention is not to depict something seen, but to create approximations of seen things, then combine them in ways that have overlapping meaning. I feel like this translation is a way to make things that outwardly seem familiar, but upon further inspection become very unfamiliar.
My process is dependent both on having direct experiences with nature and then recalling those experiences from a point of remove. I'm interested in a cognitive dissonance that arises from this translation. Making this work is like trying to recall a memory where the majority of the visual detail and narrative have been lost or obscured, but for some reason the memory is still there. I am trying to capture that compression of images and sensations retained by the mind. The meaning of the work relies not on one single condition or reading, but on our ability to effortlessly process a confluence of meanings generated by the same piece.
These pictures seem to fail as landscapes, while succeeding as abstractions, yet inextricably remain landscapes. Or maybe they walk a line that removes them from both categories. The physicality of the surface and the cartoon-like simplification of the imagery undermines seeing the work as only a landscape painting. Brushstrokes and textures mimic the feeling of nature more than they literally describe it. It is like there are two separate systems of logic at work in these paintings. One defines it in terms of familiar symbols for nature and the landscape and another abstract logic seems connected to an intuitive sensibility.
CV
Solo Exhibitions
2012
Laroche/Joncas, Montreal, Canada You are Leaving
2010
Laroche/Joncas, Montreal, Canada White Sparkle
Group Exhibitions
2013
HKJB, Mexico City, Mx The Collective Show
2012
Laroche/Joncas, Montreal, Canada Upside Downturn
The Dirty Dirty, New York, NY, On the Fence
The Atlantic Conference, curated by Matt Jones, New York, NY The Final Frontier
EJ Hauser and Rob Nadeau, New York, NY Wavers
Bruce High Quality Foundation / Vito Schnabel, New York, NY Brucennial 2012
2011
Limerick-Frazier Gallery, Austin TX Trans Medium
ART BLOG ART BLOG, New York, NY Snowclones
Laroche/Joncas, Montreal, Canada Group Show
HKJB, New York, NY Control Alt Delete
Bronx River Art Center, New York, NY The Working Title
2010
HKJB, Participant Inc., New York, NY The Collective Show
DOVA Temp, Chicago, IL A Selection from a Decade of Painting at the Department of Visual Arts
Ridgway Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA It’s My World
Second Home Projects, Berlin, Germany Born to Die
M. Wakasa Presents, Kumukumu Gallery, New York, NY Landscape and Solitude
Fortress to Solitude, New York, NY Bushwick Schlact
HKJB, New York, NY Portable Caves
Ridgway Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA Paper Awesome
2009
ACME, Los Angeles, CA Seasonal Pictures
Projecx MTL, Montreal, Canada Brut
Dvorak Sec Contemporary, Prague, Czech Republic A Taste of Young New York
ABCyz, Silver Shed, New York, NY Benefit Show
Apartment Show, Envoy Enterprises, New York, NY Joshua Smith's B-Day Party
The Painting Center, New York, NY 25/35
Fortress to Solitude, New York, NY A Painting Show
HKJB, New York, NY Personal Abstraction
2008
Artists Space, New York, NY Night of a 1000 Drawings
Prince St Gallery, New York, NY Small Works Show
2004
David and Alfred Smart Museum, Chicago IL Student Show
University of Chicago, Franke Institute, Chicago, IL Narrative Purgatory
University of Chicago, Department of Visual Arts, Chicago, IL 11 Pack
2000
Century 900 Gallery, Chicago, IL Surface and Story
Curatorial Projects
Collective Show, Mexico City, Mx The Collective Show Mx, 2013
HKJB at Galerie Laroche/Joncas, Montreal, Ca Upside Downturn, 2012
ARTBLOGARTBLOG, w/ Rob Nadeau, New York, NY, Snowclones, 2011
HKJB, New York, NY, Control Alt Delete, 2011
HKJB, New York, NY, Pieced Together, 2011
Collective Show at Participant, New York, NY, The Collective Show, 2010
HKJB, New York, NY, Portable Caves, 2010
Collective Show at Silver Shed, New York, NY, ABCyz, 2010
HKJB, New York, NY, Bad Graphic Design, 2009
HKJB, New York, NY, Personal Abstraction, 2009
Education
2005 MFA - University of Chicago
2000 BFA - School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1999 The International School, Umbria, Italy
Bibliography
Samelson, Henry. “Benjamin King; Studio Visit,” Buddy of Work, April 1, 2013
Rosati, Lauren and Staniszewski, Mary Anne. Alternative Histories. The MIT Press, 2012:
368 – 369
“NYC Painters Take Montreal: HKJB @ LAROCHE/JONCAS”, New York Postmodern, September 21, 2012
Forget, Betina. “You are Leaving – Benjamin King at Laroche/Joncas.” The Belgo Report, April 24, 2012
New American Paintings. "Progress Report: Q&A with Kris Chatterson and Vince Contarino." October 20, 2011
Russeth, Andrew. “Control Alt Delete: A One-Night HKJB Show in Bushwick.” 16 Miles of String, June 2, 2011
Skene, Cameron. "Benjamin King." Border Crossings, Issue 117, March - May 2011
Fallah, Amir H. “Benjamin King Is Into The Wild” Beautiful Decay, March 29, 2011
Chatterson, Kris. "Benjamin King / Studio Visit." Progress Report, August 26, 2010
Bamberger, Alan. "Baer Ridgway - Marx & Zavattero - NOMA." ArtBusiness.com, July 24, 2010
Warner, Emily. "Making Space." NYFA Current, June 2010
Warner, Emily. "Art Minus Gallery: 'Personal Abstraction' in Sunset Park." Bomblog,
May 11, 2009