October 15 - November 27, 2020 The Fuller Building 41 East 57th Street, Second Floor New York, NY 10022 212-628-1600 • info@benrimon.com • www.davidbenrimon.com © 2020, David Benrimon Fine Art LLC
Curated by Eve Wiener & Isabel Dicker
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction
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Bonnie Lautenberg
Derrick Adams
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Even Lady Liberty Lost Some of Her Freedom!, 2020
Pair: Interior Life (Man) & Woman, 2019 Derrick Adams
Roy Lichtenstein 7
Style Variation 5, 2018 Derrick Adams Self Portrait on Float, 2019 Trent Alvey LOVE FREEDOM • VOTE, 2020 Lauren Benrimon Flag Me Down, 2013 Mel Bochner Blah, Blah, Blah, 2018 James Casebere
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Indira Cesarine ACT NOW (Turquoise), 2020 Robert Indiana The American Love, 1975 Robert Indiana Obama HOPE (Red, White and Blue), 2009 Rashid Johnson Broken Men, 2019 Titus Kaphar
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Flag, 2020
Andy Warhol
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Bald Eagle, from Endangered Species, 1983 22
VOTE HILLARY, 2016 Jeff Koons
Sleeping Beauty - Temporary Abduction, 2020 40 h x 64 w in
Enough Already, 2012 Deborah Kass
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EE-NUF!, 2020 Bernie Taupin
Sacrifice (Diptych), 2011 Deborah Kass
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Mocha Standard, 1969 Ed Ruscha
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That Was Then, This Is Now, 2014 Ed Ruscha
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Cold Beer Beautiful Girls, 2009 Ed Ruscha
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American Flag at Ease (American Flag Hung Out to Dry), 2016 Ed Ruscha
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Untitled (Flag), 2013 Paul Rousso
Cloudy/Sunny Skies, 2013
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Black Flag Monotype, 1999 Robert Longo
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Study for jet pilot NO.1, 2007 Robert Longo
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Forms in Space, 1985 Robert Longo
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I Love Liberty, 1982 Roy Lichtenstein
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Andy Warhol Tomato Soup, from Campbell’s Soup I (F. & S. II.46), 1968
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David Benrimon Fine Art is pleased to announce the fall exhibition “Rethink America,” open from October 15 to November 27, 2020. In this unprecedented turn of a new decade, our era has become characterized by efforts to rethink America’s history and delve deeply into its values and systems. Timely issues of race, gender, equality and justice have pushed artists, museums and galleries to investigate America’s nationalist histories and colonialist legacies, privilege, and styles of representation. Within the art world, museums are deaccessioning major works to diversify their programs and institutions have re-hung their collection to question the canon, confronting issues in the art world and society as a whole. “Rethink America” brings together contemporary works that challenge representation, popular culture and symbols, the American flag and its promises, and the upcoming election. Titus Kaphar’s diptych “Sacrifice,” a centerpiece of the exhibition, is a work that keenly demonstrates our country’s hidden histories and challenges styles of representation. Kaphar reconstructs accepted historical narratives and reconfigures art history to
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include the African-American subject. His artistic process dismantles representation in art by physically transforming his canvases with techniques of cutting, erasing, and adding tar, in order to surface suppressed histories. “Sacrifice” consists of two panels placed together; the seated white figure is cut out and transposed onto the other space, highlighting the two African-American figures in the background and bringing them to the fore. The open area becomes an active absence – revealing what has been hidden – the stories in the background. A Derrick Adam’s large-scale work from his Beauty World Series also examines how African-American experiences intersect with art history, American iconography and consumerism. To create “Style Variation 5,” Adams reproduced a digital photograph of a wig mannequin and then painted hairstyles and makeup atop in his signature fragmented style. This single head investigates the cultural construction of the human form and Black identity in America. America’s cultural identity and popular tastes have been investigated by artists for decades, each highlighting their own experience. Whereas Adams’
depicts items from beauty supply stores, wig shop, nail and braiding salons and boutiques, New York Pop artists of the 1960s, like Andy Warhol, depict middle-class consumer items like “Tomato Soup” as an American symbol. For West Coast artist Ed Ruscha, popular culture is Standard gas stations on the open road and “Cold Beer Beautiful Girls.” The American flag, our country’s most significant icon, and its presumed promises of liberty, justice and equality have been reinterpreted and questioned by artists, especially amidst this election cycle. Robert Longo and Roy Lichtenstein’s depictions of a waving flag and lady liberty is foiled by Paul Rousso’s drooping “American Flag Hung Out To Dry” and Bernie Taupin’s wrapped flag “Sleeping Beauty - Temporary Abduction.” These paintings signify current political tensions and privilege rather than represent USA’s strength and regality. Placed one after another and in different levels of distress, these flags are curated to look repetitive and to question our country. With the impeding November election and imminent need for change, our neon installation of text-based works forefront action. Deborah Kass’ “Enough
Already,” Indira Cesarine’s “ACT NOW,” and Trent Alvey’s “LOVE∙FREEDOM∙VOTE” emphasize the importance of having a voice in our democracy. Other works by Robert Indiana, James Casebere, Bonnie Lautenberg and Jeff Koons poke fun at America’s current state with an eroding white picket fence and masked stature of liberty, nodding to our past glory and focusing on the present. At this critical moment in 2020, just moments before an election and amidst a worldwide pandemic, this is the perfect time to reinterpret history at David Benrimon Fine Art. Artists: Derrick Adams; Trent Alvey; Lauren Benrimon; Mel Bochner; James Casebere; Indira Cesarine; Robert Indiana; Rashid Johnson; Titus Kaphar; Deborah Kass; Jeff Koons; Bonnie Lautenberg; Roy Lichtenstein; Robert Longo; Paul Rousso; Ed Ruscha; Bernie Taupin; Andy Warhol. For further information and for all press inquiries, please contact Eve Wiener at eve@benrimon.com or Isabel Dicker at isabel@benrimon.com, or by phone at (212) 628-1600.
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Derrick Adams Pair: Interior Life (Man) & Woman, 2019 Pigment print on Hotpress 24 h x 18 w in
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Derrick Adams Style Variation 5, 2018 Acrylic paint and pencil on archival inkjet paper, frame 71 h x 45 w in
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Derrick Adams Self Portrait on Float, 2019 Woodblock, gold leaf, collage 40 h x 40 w in
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Trent Alvey LOVE FREEDOM • VOTE, 2020 Neon 30 h x 30 w x 5d in
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Lauren Benrimon Flag Me Down, 2013 Acrylic on canvas 40 h x 60 w in
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Mel Bochner Blah, Blah, Blah, 2018 Oil on velvet 29 h x 22 w in
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James Casebere Cloudy/Sunny Skies, 2013 Framed fine art pigment print mounted to Dibond 40 h x 33 w in
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Indira Cesarine ACT NOW (Turquoise), 2020 Glass Neon Sculpture Mounted to Opaque White Plexiglass with Steel Standoffs, Electrical Transformer 24h x 36w in
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Robert Indiana The American Love, 1975 Enamel on aluminum 14 h x 14 w in
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Robert Indiana Obama HOPE (Red, White and Blue), 2009 Silkscreen on paper 31 h x 42 w in
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Rashid Johnson Broken Men, 2019 27-color silkscreen with mylar collage 55 h x 42 w in
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Titus Kaphar Sacrifice (Diptych), 2011 Oil on canvas 73 h x 104 w x 2 d in. overall (73 h x 52 w x 2 d in., each panel)
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Deborah Kass Enough Already, 2012 Neon and transformers 18 h x 14 w in
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Deborah Kass VOTE HILLARY, 2016 Silkscreen on Stonehenge 320 gram paper 42 h x 42 w in
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Jeff Koons Flag, 2020 Archival pigment print on Innova rag paper 25 h x 31 w in
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Bonnie Lautenberg Even Lady Liberty Lost Some of Her Freedom!, 2020 Dye sublimation print mounted on aluminum in three (3) parts 30 h x 30 w in
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Roy Lichtenstein I Love Liberty, 1982 Screenprint in colors 38 h x 27 w in
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Roy Lichtenstein Forms in Space, 1985 Screenprint in colors 36 h x 52 w in
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Robert Longo Study for jet pilot NO.1, 2007 Charcoal on tracing paper 23 h x 19 w in
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Robert Longo Black Flag Monotype, 1999 Cast paper and black dye 31 h x 34 w x 6 d in
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Robert Longo Untitled (Flag), 2013 Digital pigment print 40 h x 80 w in
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Paul Rousso American Flag at Ease (American Flag Hung Out to Dry), 2016 Mixed media on hand-sculpted styrene 57 h x 46 w x 13 d in
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Ed Ruscha Cold Beer Beautiful Girls, 2009 Lithograph in colors on wove paper 40 x 31 w in
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Ed Ruscha That Was Then, This Is Now, 2014 Lithograph on paper 34 h x 36 w in
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Ed Ruscha Mocha Standard, 1969 Screenprint 25 h x 40 w in
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Ed Ruscha EE-NUF!, 2020 Offset print 18 h x 23 w in
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Bernie Taupin Sleeping Beauty - Temporary Abduction, 2020 40 h x 64 w in
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Andy Warhol Bald Eagle, from Endangered Species, 1983 Screenprint in colors on Lenox museum board 38 h x 38 w in
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Andy Warhol Tomato Soup, from Campbell’s Soup I (F. & S. II.46), 1968 Screenprint in colors on wove paper 35 h x 23 w in
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The Fuller Building 41 East 57th Street, Second Floor New York, NY 10022