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Benjamin Kress

New Paintings

Opening: Friday, November 3, 6–8pm

November 3 – December 22, 2017

A photograph of a large painting on the gallery's temporary wall depicting 3 standing figures painted in red, yellow and blue. There is a small painting on the left wall opposite the temporary wall, too small to make out details.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph depicting two large paintings: one with three figures standing together, painted in red, yellow, and blue; the other with a single female naked body flattened like a paper doll, folding over herself, with an identical grey silhouette to the right of her.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph depicting two large paintings: one with three figures standing together, painted in red, yellow, and blue; the other with a single female naked body flattened like a paper doll, folding over herself, with an identical grey silhouette to the right of her. We see the gallery's front window at right.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph of the three large paintings: one of a single female figure not unlike a paper doll, folding over herself, at right; a painting of three figures in red, yellow, and blue on the temporary wall; and a painting of a naked female figure kneeling, looking like she's made of cellophane.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A frontal shot of the gallery, where the temporary wall and wall behind it are visible. At left, there are three small paintings who's details are indiscernible.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

An angled photograph of the temporary wall, and four small paintings on the wall at left who's paintings are indiscernible.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A single wall straight on with four small abstract paintings, who's detailed are indiscernible.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph of 4 small paintings on the wall at left, detail indiscernible, and one large painting on the back wall of a kneeling naked woman seemingly made out of cellophane, looking at a wall.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph of 2 small paintings on the far wall, and one large painting on a close wall at right. The painting at right is of the kneeling naked female figure, seemingly made of cellophane.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A view of 2 artworks around the corner of the gallery. On the left is a small abstract painting in blue tones; on the right is a kneeling naked woman seemingly made of cellophane, holding a mask of a human face. We see her shadow on the wall she's facing, with a black wall behind her, outlined in a warm yellow hue.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A straight-on photograph of the large painting on the back wall of the gallery: a naked woman kneeling, seemingly made of cellophane, looking at a gray wall. We see her shadow there. The black wall behind her is outlined in yellow/orange, like there is a light on behind it.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph of the gallery looking toward the entrance, which includes 4 small paintings on the far wall (details indiscernible). At the right we see the side of a painting of the kneeling naked woman.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph of 4 small abstract paintings on the wall on the right in this image. We see the window of the gallery at left.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph near the temporary wall in the gallery: the front window is visible, as is a large painting of a woman and her silhouette at left of the window. On the backside of the temporary wall, there is another painting of a green face that appears to be made of cellophane.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph of the backside of the temporary wall, which has a painting of a cellophane mask in tones of green, yellow, and purple. At the right are 3 small paintings with indiscernible details.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph of the painting of a cellophane mask in hues of green, purple, black and yellow.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph of the corner behind the temporary wall: there is a painting on the right of the cellophane mask, and on the left is a painting of 3 ghostly masks in blue and green hues.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

A photograph of a small painting hung on the wall of two ghostly masks in blue. They are floating on a green ground with a black background.

Installation view, Benjamin Kress: New Paintings, Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2017

Press Release

Callicoon Fine Arts is pleased to announce an exhibition of new oil paintings by Benjamin Kress, on view from November 3 to December 22, 2017. Created over the last year, the work presents the viewer with images of a mysterious recurring masked figure that is folded, deformed and transformed by light, and a series of diamonds.

In this body of work, traditional material techniques are used to delve into contemporary ideas about the fabrication of the self and its relationship to image. The paintings are slowly made, built up through layers of smoothed grounds, underpainting, and transparent glazed brushwork to create luminous surfaces. The source imagery for the paintings was developed through a multi-step process. Kress sculpted and cast a mask of an idealized, difficult-to-pin down character, an empty yet evocative hybrid face visually rooted in the vernacular of fashion imagery. Photographs of the artist wearing the mask were crafted into ephemeral paper and cellophane sculptures and rephotographed. The figures are cryptic, striking art-historical poses as they mask and unmask themselves. They are faceted and cubist, crumpled and unfolded, 2-dimensional beings occupying 3-dimensional space. In some of the paintings the figures are highly reflective, in others, the light is diffracted, breaking into color spectrums.  

The figuration is counterpointed with a series of painted diamonds. Diamonds, like the figures, are objects formed through pressure, and in the visual similarity and economic disparity of diamond and cellophane throughout the exhibition, a dialogue about value emerges. Within the gallery of shimmering, dematerializing figures and diamonds, beauty and idealizations are sought after, destabilized, and distorted. The body is seen both as an image to be viewed, and as a distorted lens through which we view things; permeable, ephemeral, a mirage that can slip away without ever quite defining the soul of the matter.

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In addition, on December 16, 2017, Benjamin Kress and Dia Dear will present a performance collaboration incorporating visual elements from Kress’s artwork. Dia Dear is a movement-based performance artist whose practice is influenced by their early work in the drag and performance scenes of San Francisco. Exploring crossover in the two artists interests, Dia Dear will enact a piece about masking, the body, theatricality and emotion. 

Benjamin Kress (b. 1976, Bozeman, MT) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He has had solo exhibitions at Callicoon Fine Arts, New York, NY; Derek Eller Gallery project room, New York, NY; helper, Brooklyn, NY; and Galeria André Viana, Porto, Portugal. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions and collaborations. Kress studied painting at The Cooper Union School of Art, New York, NY (BFA 2000), L’École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France (Exchange Program, 1998), and The Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT (MFA 2004).

For additional information contact Photi Giovanis at info@callicoonfinearts.com, or call 212-219-0326.

Callicoon Fine Arts is located at 49 Delancey Street between Forsyth and Eldridge Streets. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 10:30am to 6:30pm. The nearest subway stops are the B and D trains at Grand Street and the F, J, M and Z trains at Delancey-Essex Street. 

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