Details:

In this small-scale painting, geometric shapes, stripes, nets and various flattened forms emerge and expand across a recessive plane. This work references digital image-making techniques while employing the full dynamics of paint—eliciting sensations of nostalgia while recognizing the need to grow beyond the history it references.
Unframed
Signed

① Artwork:

Olio

In this small-scale painting, geometric shapes, stripes, nets and various flattened forms emerge and expand across a recessive plane. The artist employs thick paint and squiggly, frenzied lines to create painterly layers. This painting references digital image-making techniques while employing the full dynamics of paint—both its application and its direct visual experience. Benson delves deep: into the possibilities of painting; into the substance of surfaces; into the delicious suggestiveness of shapes and textures; and into lines in free fall.

Benson is among those artists working today who first engaged with painting through the use of a computer program before working on a traditional canvas. Her work transcends the typical narrative of digital art by moving beyond the computer screen onto the canvas. Although her compositions frequently elicit sensations of nostalgia, the artist's paintings recognize the need to grow beyond the history they reference.

Specs:

16 inches
20 inches

③ Artist:

Trudy Benson

Trudy Benson’s abstract paintings are reminiscent of 1980s computer graphics and early image manipulation programs. The artist moves geometric shapes, stripes, and nets from the computer screen to the canvas through cables of thick paint and squiggly, frenzied lines. Her work explores how this science-based imagery gets communicated and understood while eliciting feelings of nostalgia from viewers.

BIO:

Trudy Benson was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1985. The artist holds an MFA from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and a BFA from the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

Solo exhibitions of Benson’s work include: / Z / Z / at Ceysson & Bénétière in Saint-Étienne, France; Cuts, Paints at team (bungalow) in Los Angeles, California; Closer Than They Appear at Lyles & King in New York City; Infinite Spiral at Dio Horia in Mykonos, Greece; Ribordy Contemporary in Geneva, Switzerland; and Garden in Motion at Galerie Bernard Ceysson in Paris, France.

Group exhibitions that have shown Benson’s work include: Light, curated by Rico Gatson, at Miles McEnery Gallery in New York City; Phase 1 at The Hole in East Hampton, New York; Path of the Storm at SUNNY NY in New York City; Group Show at RIBORDY THETAZ in Geneva, Switzerland; Join at Loyal in Stockholm, Sweden; Accrochage at RIBORDY THETAZ in Geneva, Switzerland; True Lines at Over the Influence in Los Angeles, California; 100! at Loyal in Stockholm, Sweden; Decoy, curated by Marc Mitchell, at Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas; New Edition: Print from the Past, Present, and Future at Pratt, curated by Caitlin Riordan and Grayson Cox, at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York; Rise at RIBORDY THETAZ in Geneva, Switzerland; le ciel, l’eau, les dauphins, la vierge, les flics, le sang des nobles, l’ONU, l’Europe, les casques bleus, Facebook, Twitter at Forde in Geneva, Switzerland; MOONDOG at East Hampton Shed in East Hampton, New York; 10 Years in Luxembourg at Ceysson & Bénétière in Wandhaff, Luxembourg; Set Adrift on Memory Bliss at Pablo’s Birthday in New York City; Group Exhibition at Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles, California; Come as You Are at Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran in Montreal, Canada; Post Analog Painting II at The Hole in New York City; Pro-Forma: Context and Meaning in Abstraction, curated by Vittorio Colaizzi, at Work Release Gallery in Norfolk, Virginia; Unobstructed Views at Hawkins Ferry House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan and TT52, with Yann Gerstberger, at Lyles & King in New York City.

Benson’s work is included in the collections of: the Susan and Michael Hort Collection in New York City; the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine; the Aishti Foundation in Beirut, Lebanon; Saatchi Gallery in London, United Kingdom; the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Arts in Peekskill, New York and the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection in New York City.

Benson was a nominee for the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant. The artist received a painting fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts in New York City.

Benson lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Trudy Benson:
Olio, 2021
Acrylic and oil on canvas
20.0 × 16.0 inches /