BEN STUBBINGTON: ILL COMMUNICATION
Ben Stubbington: ILL COMMUNICATION
July 15 – 24 at 312 Bowery
A SOLO show of Paintings subliminally attached to a statement or caught lyric.
British born, New York-based artist and designer Ben Stubbington will hold a solo show entitled ‘Ill Communication’ at New York City gallery The Wallplay Shop, located at 312 Bowery. The show, the artist’s second solo effort, will run from Friday, July 15 through Sunday, July 24, with an opening event on Tuesday, July 19. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the works will go to ‘Waves for Water’, whose mission is to get clean water to every person who needs it.
‘ILL COMMUNICATION’ features a tightly curated collection of paintings. The catalyst for each painting is a subliminal attachment to a statement or caught lyric: these phrases or statements in mixed media repetition underscore their significance. On canvas board, the works are based in neutral tones and the graphic contrast of black and white with bold moments of blue, rust, pink and red intensifying their depth. The artist uses a unique combination of acrylic, spray paint, graphite, permanent marker, soldering iron and enamel creating textures upon textures, applied with original and non-traditional techniques (Stubbington rarely, if ever, uses a brush). The result is a heavily manipulated surface that bears evidence of multiple layers and dimensions: rough, smooth, grainy, fine and yet coherent. A psychological depth is elicited, with discoveries that are at once visual and textual, emotional and revealing.
Tangentially to his artistic work, Stubbington has worked as a fashion designer in New York City for 16 years and is currently the Creative Director of Theory Menswear, a post he has held for over 7 years. He resides between his homes in Williamsburg and Montauk.
“The works in ‘ILL COMMUNICATION’ are a departure for me, both in technique and content. This selection of paintings is much more visceral than my previous meditative work and is fueled by a reconciliation of internal conflict with self-exploration. Those sparks are then compounded by the recent horrific headlines of world news and I am compelled to paint,” Stubbington says. “My technique is rooted in the study of application and removal, a process which I repeat in various ways until I feel the work is complete. Having a show on the Bowery, then, seems perfectly fitting, as the neighborhood is known to endure a constant cycle of rebirth and regeneration, much like the process used in these pieces.”
For more information, please contact Ben Stubbington at benstubbington@gmail.com