136 Eldridge Street Gallery is thrilled to present Night And Day by the artist, Fred Bendheim. The exhibition will consist of paintings, work on paper, sculpture and shapings, the artist’s most recent work on wood and PVC.
Night And Day will run from October 14 – 28, 2017. Fred Bendheim has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, and this will be his first show at 136 Eldridge Street Gallery. The exhibition will include work from the past five years, including the artist’s trademark work, shapings: shaped paintings on wood and PVC board and painted relief sculptures. The title of the show, Night And Day, refers to perceived dichotomies in the world and the artist’s bridging of these dualities through his work. Night And Day are also references to the artist’s life, a fascination with the contrasts of night and day, the conscious and unconscious the colors associated with these states of mind. There are elements of bright color as well, giving the pieces interesting contrasts; “night and day” is a recurring theme in the artist’s work, expressing a totality. “I like using the open-ended format of shaped, non-rectangular works” says Bendheim. ” It allows the wall to become part of piece, to have a conversation in space with the shapes and colors I have chosen. There is also a purposeful confusion of identity in the colors and shapes, which is interesting to me. It’s as if notions of separate egos, races and religions was a half-truth, ideas supported by science and some religious traditions.” The art works are finely crafted objects made of shaped and painted PVC board. The artist ‘s process is to make extensive drawings and maquettes before transforming them to PVC board. Night and Day also refers to the music of Cole Porter and musical improvisations.
Fred Bendheim was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1956. He has lived and worked in Brooklyn, NY since 1984. As a teen-ager, he apprenticed with the pioneer surrealist painter, Philip Curtis. Fred has had numerous one-person shows and his works are in collections world-wide including: The Museum of Arts & Design, NY; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Montclair Art Museum, The National Gallery of Costa Rica; The Instituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Venice, Italy; The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, The Plotkin Museum, The Brooklyn Public Library, NY; Denise Bibro Fine Art, NY; Jason McCoy Gallery, Bradley International Airport, Los Angeles, CA; The Mayo Center for Humanities, Scottsdale, AZ. His commissions include fountain-sculptures for Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and paintings for the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, among others. His past art has taken the form of large room-sized installations, outdoor billboards with children’s art, sculptures, and fountains made with many materials, as well as mural-sized drawings. He has written articles about art for the British journal The Lancet, and he is on the faculty at the Art Students League and The College of Mt. Saint Vincent in New York City.
For more information: Tel: 718-753-1659