In producing his realistic oil paintings, Weiner harnesses the subjective nature of perception in order to render everyday objects unfamiliar and strange. By photographing paint and luxurious ephemera at close range, then using the resulting image as his subject, he creates works that pose a confusion of object, subject and medium.
GlamTrance
Mark Moore Gallery is pleased to announce new works by emerging young talent Ben
Weiner. In producing his stunningly realistic oil paintings, Weiner harnesses the
subjective nature of perception in order to render everyday objects unfamiliar and
strange. By photographing paint and luxurious ephemera at close range, then using
the resulting image as his subject, Weiner creates works that pose a confusion of
object, subject and medium. Although his technique is photorealism, the pearls,
make-up, perfume and paint depicted are rendered at such proximity that they appear
as alien landscapes and ominous seas.
These fantastic terrains are undeniably
disturbing and disorientating as the viewer searches the canvas for a recognizable
subject matter, yet they remain enticing in their opulence and beauty. His works
paradoxically serve as both accurate representation and unidentifiable abstraction,
unsettling the often unquestioned nature of realism, beauty and truth. Weiner's
painting
s transcend mere representation; the dramatic lighting and rich hues, combined with
the inaccessibility of his sublime surfaces, produce an uncanny effect indicative -
yet simultaneously critical - of a society inundated by images, governed by popular
culture and the media.
"GlamTrance" defines a liminal, ecstatic experience of visual disorientation in
which the fetishized glam objects I depict in my paintings collapse with the art
objects that depict them. -Ben Weiner
Ben Weiner received his BA from Wesleyan University, Connecticut. He studied under
Mexican muralist Jose Lazcarro and has worked closely with artists Jeff Koons, Kim
Sooja and Amy Yoes as an assistant. He has exhibited his work widely across the
United States and in Mexico and has participated in numerous art fairs, including
Pulse New York and Pulse Miami Beach. Weiner lives and works in New York City; this
will be his first solo show on the West Coast.
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 19, from 5-7pm
Mark Moore Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue, A-1- Santa Monica
Gallery Hours 10 AM to 6 PM Tuesday - Friday, 11 AM - 5 PM Saturday
Free admission