Frank Benson: Open Studio and Reception

Chinati invites the community to an open studio reception for Artist in Residence Frank Benson on Friday, June 1, 2012, from 6:00 until 8:00 PM at the Locker Plant in downtown Marfa.

Frank Benson was born in Norfolk, Virginia and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Benson’s work is primarily sculpture and photography, made with an explorer’s interest in process, form, and mechanical technique and reproduction. In Marfa, Benson has been extruding and firing clay geometric tubes of various sizes and shapes, allowing the vagaries of the process to hold sway. He then combines these dark, elongated forms with found chunks of ancient petrified wood, now stone; In both cases the material is not what it first appears to be.

Benson has also taken a recent interest in clusters of “twinned iron pyrite”, refined looking deposits that come from the ground in the shape of perfectly cubed and polished metal constructions, which he is using to create larger, fabricated sculptures.  “I’ve come to realize over the years that the interplay between hard-edged geometry and organic forms is central to my work,” said Benson.

Frank Benson received his MFA in 2003 from the University of California Los Angeles, and his BFA in 1998 from the Maryland Institute and College of Art in Baltimore. Recent exhibitions include ArtPace, San Antonio, (Nov, 2011); Human Stature (Jessie), Taxter and Spengemann, NY and Overduin and Kite, LA (2011), and Frank Benson at Sadie Coles HQ, London, (2008, 2009). His work has also been included in group exhibitions at the Serpentine Gallery, London; the Miami Art Museum; and New York’s Sculpture Center.

Benson will perform a short set of songs at the opening, and will also give a public talk about his work at the Marfa Book Company on Thursday, May 31, at 8:00 PM.