Brooklyn, NY – 440 Gallery is proud to present The Elements, an exhibition of abstract, monochrome works by Fred Bendheim. For his sixth solo show at the gallery, Bendheim has continued to explore his passion for shaped paintings, as he has done for the past 15 years. While his primary medium is shaped, painted PVC board, he has included two works on wood and aluminum.
Although Bendheim sees himself as primarily a painter, these shaped works bridge the gap between painting and sculpture. With a Zenlike simplicity, he
pares down forms to their essence and then paints them in a single color with variations in tone. This unique process allows him a freedom of expression while maintaining a bold compositional method.
The Elements refers to both the building blocks of the natural world and of visual art. Abstract forms are transformed into earth, air, water, wood and fire, with celestial imagery in abundance. Circles, spirals, ellipses and the empty spaces within them create elegant, spare, yet playful compositions. Some of the works are inspired by Native American art — strong shapes and a deceptively simple palette — a reflection of Bendheim’s upbringing in Arizona by a Hopi- Navajo guardian.
Freed from the rectilinear constraints of conventional canvas, Bendheim’s pieces maintain a feeling of space as two-dimensional sculptures based on elaborate process and experimentation. Each piece’s silhouette is enlivened by meticulously designed interior cutouts. The colorful geometric forms with hard- edged shapes guide the eye without any bends or breaks.
Several works are tondos, shaped paintings implying a celestial realm that glows out of negative spaces. Do coiling shapes restrain or run free?
Do forms embrace or create a pathway to another area? For Bendheim, these questions are part of a totality.
Says the artist, “I like using the open-ended format of shaped, non-rectangular works. It allows me a freedom to depart from the earthbound rectangle. The walls become part of each piece, to have a conversation in space with the shapes and colors I have chosen.”
Fred Bendheim has had numerous one-person shows, and his works are in collections worldwide, including The Museum of Arts and Design, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Montclair Art Museum, The National Museum of Costa Rica, The Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, The Plotkin Museum, Brooklyn Public Library, Denise Bibro Fine Art, Jason McCoy Gallery, Los Angeles International Airport and The Mayo Center for Humanities in Medicine.
His commissions include fountain-sculptures for Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, murals for Brooklyn and paintings for the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, among others. His past works have taken the forms of large room-sized installations, outdoor billboards with children’s art, sculptures, fountains and mural-sized drawings. He has written articles for the British journal The Lancet, and he has been on the faculty of The Art Students League and The College of Mount Saint Vincent, NY. He was featured in Created in Brooklyn, a documentary series at the Brooklyn Public Library, and he was awarded a New York City Artist Corps grant in 2022. Fred has lived and worked in Brooklyn since 1984.
On view: September 7 – October 8, 2023
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 9, 2023, 4-6 pm Artist Talk: Saturday, September 23, 4:40 pm
For press and sales inquiries, including interviews with our artists, please contact Amanda Michele Brown, Gallery Director, at 718-499-3844; [email protected]. For more information on these shows, the exhibiting artists, and the gallery, go to our website at 440gallery.com.
About 440 Gallery: 440 Gallery presents engaging art to the community through exhibitions, talks, readings and events centered around direct contact with the artist. Open Thursday – Friday 4-7 p.m., Saturday – Sunday 12-6 p.m., or by appointment.
