This solo exhibition in the Focus Gallery will be the premier presentation of Dark Matter, Michael Benari’s latest body of work resulting from his long standing interest in found objects in street photography and graffiti. Dark Matter will be presented concurrently with The Naked Print a call for entries juried by Stephan Fisher.
On view at the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts
Exhibition: Thursday, January 17th, thru Friday, February 15
Reception and Awards: January 17th, 2019, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Artist Statement: Dark Matter
This latest body of work has resulted from my interest in found objects in street photography and graffiti. I’ve always felt inspired by the urban landscape and looked for new ways to interpret and express my own emotional response to it.
My strong interest in abstract painting and work-on-paper led me to experiment in ways I could use photography differently. I’ve felt particularly inspired by the artist Richard Serra and his abstract works on paper using both charcoal and paint stick.
The works in this exhibit originated as photographic images, often of markings seen in streets or graffiti on wall surfaces. Using various printing techniques that allow for the layering of ink on a matte surface, I’ve been able to achieve a greater depth of tonal variation in the blacks and grays, rendering the works a
tri-dimensional quality. In so doing, the originally captured image, abstract on one level, becomes something quite else once printed with layered ink, even more abstract and evocative.
The works in this exhibition are a collection of fifteen, drawn from three urban locations, and meant to converse with each other. They are shown without glass, allowing direct viewing to observe the full effect of the printing process. – Michael Benari
About: Michael Benari
Michael Benari was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and moved to New York at a young age. He received his BA from Columbia College, and his MD from Downstate Medical Center in New York. His early professional life was in medicine, but having a life-long love for art and photography, he felt inspired to commit fully to photography in 2007.
Benari has exhibited work in both solo and group shows, including the Danforth Museum, the Photographic Resource Center in Boston, AIPAD in New York with Andrea Meislin Gallery, the Robert Anderson Gallery in New York, the Red Filter Gallery in NJ, the Alfred Gallery in Tel Aviv and 555Gallery and Leica Gallery in Boston. His work has been featured online with BW Gallerist and Artnet
Benari has self-published several books, including SHOAH, Viva Viva, Manhattan Project and GREY.
Michael divides his time between Boston and New York.
Exhibition: Thursday, January 17th thru Friday, February 15
Opening Reception: January 17th, 2019, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.
On View: January 17 – February 15 2019
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