Reminiscent of 1980s computer graphics and early image manipulation programs, Benson’s abstract paintings form a digital language that elicit sensations of nostalgia. Born in 1985, she was among the first of the artists working today who painted on a computer before she painted on a canvas. Benson recognizes the importance of referencing the past while also positioning herself in a place to move and grow beyond the history in which her work developed.
What distinguishes Benson’s work from digital image- making techniques of the past is her attention to the experience of seeing and handling the dynamic nature of paint. Benson delves deeper into the possibilities of painting, into the substance of surfaces, into the delicious suggestiveness of shapes and textures, and into lines in free fall. The evidence and effort of the artist’s hand, the tactile results of her labor, have to be seen in person.
Cables of thick paint and squiggly, frenzied lines engage in a game of painterly layers as geometric shapes, stripes, nets, and various flattened forms emerge, expand, and evanesce across a recessive, planar space. Benson transcends the narrative of digital art by moving beyond the computer screen onto the canvas in an effort to reinforce the way in which we communicate and comprehend an image. These paintings are “puzzles I have to solve,” as the artist puts it.
TRUDY BENSON (b. 1985 in Richmond, VA) received her Master of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond,VA.
Recent solo exhibitions include SUNNY,NewYork,NY (forthcoming);“WAVES,” Miles McEnery Gallery,NewYork,NY (forthcoming); “/ Z / Z /,” Ceysson & Bénétière, Saint-Étienne, France; “Join,” LOYAL, Stockholm, Sweden; “Cuts, Paints,” team(bungalow), Los Angeles, CA; “Closer Than They Appear,” Lyles & King, New York, NY; “Infinite Spiral,” Dio Horia, Mykonos, Greece; Ribordy Contemporary, Geneva Switzerland; “Garden in Motion,” Galerie Bernard Ceysson, Paris, France; “Cosmicomics,” Galerie Bernard Ceysson, Luxembourg; “Spooky Action at a Distance,” Half Gallery, New York, NY; “Shapes of Things,” Lisa Cooley, New York, NY; and “PAINT,” Horton Gallery, New York, NY.