{"id":1415,"date":"2022-02-17T17:08:06","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T17:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afmuseet.dev10.dekodes.no\/en\/?post_type=exhibition&p=1415"},"modified":"2022-02-17T17:08:32","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T17:08:32","slug":"frank-benson-works-from-astrup-fearnley-collection","status":"publish","type":"exhibition","link":"https:\/\/afmuseet.dev10.dekodes.no\/en\/exhibitions\/frank-benson-works-from-astrup-fearnley-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank Benson – Works from the Astrup Fearnley Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Exhibition<\/span>\n\n

Frank Benson – Works from the Astrup Fearnley Collection<\/h1>\n\n01. Feb. 2019 – 24. Apr. 2019<\/span>\n\n
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Frank Benson (b. 1976) is one of the most fascinating sculptors of his generation of American contemporary artists. <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Through the years he has developed an important body of sculptures and photographs. However, it is not a large body, since the artist has a perfectionist, slow and meditative relationship with time within his creative processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benson\u2019s early sculptures were smaller, composed of different elements that created narratives with a \u2018surrealistic\u2019 flair. Then came Human Statue<\/em> (2005), a sculpture of a man pretending to be a statue. This hyperrealist work introduced a series of human-scale figurative sculptures on which he has been working for the last ten to fifteen years. Human Statue<\/em> has an unnerving presence, due to the attitude and abstruse expression of the model. This is characteristic of the recent sculptures, where the models play an active role. In Human Statue (Jessie)<\/em> (2011), the artist emphasises the gestural and physical qualities of the choreographer and dancer Jessie Gold. Human Statue(Juliana)<\/em> (2015) is based on artist Juliana Huxtable\u2019s self-portraits, which go beyond realism. All these sculptures of human figures have a very strong and active relationship with the space surrounding them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“All of the figurative sculptures I’ve made depict dynamic individuals from different disciplines who have specific traits and talents that I wish I possessed \u2013 so in a sense, I\u2019m building my own Pantheon of people who I admire and respect.”<\/em>
– Frank Benson in conversation with Travis Diehl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aesthetic development in the appearance of Benson\u2019s figure sculptures is interesting to follow especially after he adopted 3D modelling programmes. This has given the figures a more constructed and distanced look and an \u2018\u00e9criture\u2019 that adds to the works a clear touch of originality and gives them a unique place within a long line of figurative sculptures in art history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the last fifteen years, Astrup Fearnley Museet has closely followed Benson\u2019s progress and production, and we have been able to include an important body of his works in our collection. The exhibition will for the first time show all of these works together and give a good insight to his artistic production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curator: Gunnar B. Kvaran<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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