Wednesday, December 31, 2014

BEAUTY: Ceramics--Stephen Benwell

The ceramic work of Australian artist Stephen Benwell is quite varied with vessels, vases, and objects, but it is his sculptural work that caught my attention. His small nude male figures reference classical works of antiquity, but they are rendered with the very modern, painterly touch of random colorful glazes. The palette is unexpected and the marvelous, rough expression of the figures is engaging.


When I visited his website, I discovered an exhibition he created called "Collection" in which he directly references classical figures and sculpture with intriguing groupings of small objects (looking like unearthed fragments from a Roman archaeological dig), busts, and figures in vitrines.


His work brings to mind the work of Alison Schulnik. I blogged about her incredible film "Mound" here. Take a look.

http://stephenbenwell.com/home

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