BENJAMIN DEGEN
2 February 2018 – 10 March 2018
Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
Installation View, 2018 Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
We are all immigrants. To be human is to move. We had to move to get here. We have to move to keep going. We must move to become who we will be. We are all moving from here to there. We are a sea of humanity that flows as a contiguous mass in waves and tides. We flow across the entire earth: up to the tops of mountains; we fill the valleys; we wash onto the shores of the most remote islands. The salty blood within us, and our life itself, flows as a current in one unending ocean that cannot be confined by geography or boundary. My story of movement is not my own, and it is not only the story of my family moving before me, but it is also the story of all of the people who moved with them. It is a story of the refuge that was given to us and the refuge that we gave. Each of our lives is a story of compassion and bravery- a story of the people who worked to rescue and refuge and to free each other. Freedom cannot be experienced individually; it must be achieved and experienced collectively. We must move together. I painted these paintings in celebration of human movement. I painted these paintings in a moment of great division. But this is also a moment where we are empowered to make a choice: As a species, we can move together toward collective liberation, or move against each other on a path towards selfannihilation. - Benjamin Degen
Installation View, 2018 Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
The master of a ship at sea which is in a position to be able to provide assistance on receiving a signal from any source that persons are in distress at sea, is bound to proceed with all speed to their assistance. -International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Chapter V, regulation 33 (1)
Man Taking a Child Out of the Sea, 2018 Oil and spray enamel on linen over panel 84 x 60 in.
Maggie’s Foot, 2017 Oil on canvas 18 x 24 in.
Blaze’s Foot, 2017 Oil on canvas 18 x 24 in.
David’s Foot, 2017 Oil on canvas 18 x 24 in.
Lucky Ones, 2017 Oil and spray enamel on canvas 60 x 84 in.
Brothers‌ a hundred thousand perils you have passed and reached the West. For us, so little time remains to keep the vigil of our living sense. Do not deny your will to win experience, behind the sun, of worlds where no man dwells. Hold clear in thought your seed and origin. You were not made to live as mindless brutes, but go in search of virtue and true knowledge. -Ulysses in Dante’s Inferno Canto XXVI
Night Move, 2018 Oil and spray enamel on canvas 60 x 84 in.
Goliath, 2017 Oil and spray enamel on linen over panel 42 x 60 in.
Snake in a Pile of Leaves and Garbage, 2017 (top) First Draft, 2017 (bottom) Oil and spray enamel on canvas 40 x 60 in. (each)
Old News, 2017 Oil and spray enamel on canvas 36 x 48 in.
Hold On, 2018 Oil and spray enamel on linen over panel 60 x 84 in.
I take refuge in the buddha. I take refuge in the dharma. I take refuge in the sangha. -The Three Refuges of Buddhist faith
As the Crow Flies, 2017 Oil and spray enamel on canvas 40 x 60 in.
Hypocrites and Good People, 2017 Oil and spray enamel on linen over panel 60 x 42 in.
Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel -Samuel Johnson, 1775
Oh Freedom, 2017 Oil and spray enamel on linen over panel 24 x 36 in.
Little bit from you / And a little bit from me / Simple as it gets / We set each other free. -Jeff Tweedy/Mavis Staples Little Bit Anti Records 2017
Forward, 2018 Oil and spray enamel on linen over panel 108 x 84 in.
Installation View, 2018 Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
BIOGRAPHY
BENJAMIN DEGEN Born in Brooklyn, NY, 1976 Cooper Union School of Art and Science BFA, 1998 Yale Norfolk Painting Fellowship, 1997 Lives and Works in New York City “Color Against Color,” Curated by Eric
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Hibit, Oretega y Gasset Project, 2018 2015 2013
“Last Refuge,” Susan Inglett Gallery,
Brooklyn, NY
NYC
“The Guston Effect,” Steven Zevitas
“Where We Live,” Susan Inglett Gallery,
Gallery, Boston, MA
NYC
“Night Flights,” Curated by Norm Paris
“Shadow, Ripple and Reflection,” Susan
and Jackie Hoving, TSA New York,
Inglett Gallery, NYC 2010 2008 2007
2006
“Out of the dark, into the air,” Museum
Brooklyn, NY 2014
Fine Art, Port Chester, NY
“We can’t stop living,” Guild &
“Diamonds and Doughnuts,” Geoffrey
Greyshkul, NYC
Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
“Brick Layer,” Mario Diacono, Boston,
“art + crush: Xinyi Cheng - Benjamin
MA
Degen, Louis Fratino – David
“Medium,” St Barthelemy, French West
Humphrey,” Platform Gallery, Baltimore,
Indies
MD
“A Tree is Falling,” Kantor/Feuer
“Disaster!,” Geoffrey Young Gallery,
Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2004
“Brooklyn Art Party,” Nelson Macker
52, NYC
“Land Lives and Still Scapes,” Guild
Great Barrington, MA 2013
& Greyshkul, NYC
“Amor Fati,” Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY “Bathers,” Morgan Lehman Gallery, NYC “The Goddess,” Geoffrey Young Gallery,
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Great Barrington, MA 2016
“Life in Cities,” Benjamin Degen and
“Gran Prix,” Gresham’s
Yuri Masynj, Kayrock Screenprinting,
Ghost/Nudashank
Brooklyn, NY
Gallery, Baltimore, MD
“Postcard from New York – Part I,”
“Painting as a Radical Form,” Collezione
curated by Serena Trizzino , Rome, Italy
Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy
“Intimism,” curated by David Norr,
“Graphomania,” Geoffrey Young Gallery,
James Cohan Gallery, NYC
Great Barrington, MA
“Benjamin Degen and Yuri Masnyj.”
“Night X,” Benjamin Degen & Yuri
Richard Heller Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Masnyj, American Contemporary, NYC
“Render: Responding to Glass,” curated
“Brucennial,” Bruce High Quality
by Rachel Nackman, Urban Glass,
Foundation, NYC
Brooklyn, NY
2015
2012
2011
“From Where You Just Arrived,”
“Stark Imagery: The Male Nude in Art,”
Curated by Ryan Schneider, Pepin
The William Benton Museum of Art,
Moore Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
University of Connecticut, CT
“Drawing Crazy Patterns on the
“Drawings,” Klaus Von Nichtssagend
Sheets,” Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great
Gallery, NYC
Barrington, MA
BIOGRAPHY
BENJAMIN DEGEN “Thisorganized,” Curated by Hope
Smith-Stewart, Mary Boone Gallery,
Gangloff, Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC
NYC
“LANY,” Curated by Mario Diacono, Peter
“Collection 2005/2006,” Galerie
Blum Gallery, NYC 2010
2009
“Reclining Nudes,” Geoffrey Young
Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium 2005
“Among the Trees,” The Visual Arts
Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ
“With Walls,” Museum 52 Gallery, NYC
“The Night Has a Thousand Eyes,” with
“Natural Renditions,” Marlborough
Yuri Masnyj, Guild & Greyshkul, NYC
Gallery Chelsea, NYC
“Looking at Words,” Andrea Rosen
“Kings County Biennial,” Kidd Yellin
Gallery, NYC
Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
“The General’s Jamboree,” Guild &
“Body Language,” Geoffrey Young
Greyshkul, New York, NY
Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
“Bebe le Strange,” D’Amelio Terras,
“Cave Painting,” Curated by Bob Nickas,
NYC
Gresham’s Ghost Gallery, NYC
“Ultimate Concern” Geoffrey Young
“New Work New York,” Fortune Cookie
Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Projects, Singapore
“Greater New York,” PS1 MOMA, Long
“Beyond Bounds – Glow,” The Nerman
Island City, NY
Museum, Overland Park, KS “Pink Panther,” Curated by Amy Smith-
“Landings,” Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC 2004
“Colored Pencil,” KS Art, NYC
Stewart, Hannah Dumes and Nicole
Guild & Greyshkul at Placemaker
O’Rourke, Kumukumu Gallery, NYC
Gallery, Miami, FL
“The Ankle Bones are Higher on the
“My Sources Say Yes,” Guild &
Inside,” Museum 52 Gallery, NYC
Greyshkul, NYC
“Garish,” Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great
“The New Topography,” Geoffrey Young
Barrington, MA
Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
“Variations on a Theme,” Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Transitions: Painting at the (other) End of Art,” Collezione Maramotti, Reggio 2008
Figurative Painting from the Big Apple
“Bob Nickas Collection, New York
Group Show at Anna Marra Gallery,”
Recent Acquisitions, Gifts and Works from Various Exhibitions 1985-2007,” White Columns, NYC “Three Landscapes (or More) in the Modern Style,” Western Exhibitions Gallery, Chicago, IL 2007
“Painting as Fact, Fact as Fiction,” Curated By Bob Nickas, DePury & Luxembourg, Zurich, Switzerland
2006
Sassi, Edoardo. “Postcard from New York,
Emilia, Italy
“Occupation,” Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA “View Eleven: Upstate,” Curated by Amy
Anna Marra Contemporanea, 14 June 2016. Brahimy, Gracie. “Three Summer Shows in New York’s Chelsea You Shouldn’t Miss,” Artlyst, 25 July 2016. Dafoe, Taylor. “Intimisms at James Cohan,” Blouin ArtInfo, 11 July 2016. Smith, Roberta. “What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week,” The New York Times, 7 July 2016. Miranda, Carolina A.. “Datebook: Abandoned buildings, new paintings and a show that
BIOGRAPHY
BENJAMIN DEGEN tackles race and violence,” Los Angeles Times, 25 March 2016. Best, Kenneth. “Exploring Masculinity Through Art,” UConn Today, 11 February 2016. Knudsen, Stephen. “Beyond Objecthood: A Conversation with Benjamin Degen,”
ARTPULSE, No. 24, Vol. 7, 2015. Wolkoff, Julia. “Benjamin Degen,” Art in America, 30 October 2015. Martin, Alison. “Benjamin Degen illustrates how ‘Where We Live’ becomes a part of one’s identity,” The Examiner, 26 October 2015. Steadman, Ryan. “12 Things to Do in New York’s Art World Before October 25,” The New York Observer, 22 October 2015. Hendricks, Christian. “Night Flight at Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery,” Huffington Post, 11 June 2015. Indrisek, Scott. “Benjamin Degen,” Modern Painters, February 2013. Knudsen, Stephen. “Top Ten Contemporary Art Exhibits in 2013,” Huffington Post, 2 January 2014. “Benjamin Degen,” Folioleaf, 2 January 2014. Trizzino, Serena. “Benjamin Degen,” Creem Magazine, 26 December 2013. Beer, Jonathan. “Benjamin Degen,” The Brooklyn Rail, 18 December 2013. Heinrich, Will. “’Benjamin Degen: Shadow, Ripple and Reflection’ at Susan Inglett Gallery,” The New York Observer, 19 November 2013. Schjeldahl, Peter. “Benjamin Degen,” The New Yorker, 4 November 2013. Bilsborough, Michael. SVA Continuing Education Blog, 22 November 2013. Kerr, Merrily. “Benjamin Degen at Susan Inglett Gallery,” New York Art Tours, 19 November 2013. Nickas, Bob. “Benjamin Degen,” Annual Magazine, Issue #6, October 2013, p 132-134.
Johnson, Paddy. “Purple: Benjamin Degen at Susan Inglett Gallery” Artfagcity, 21 October 2013. Diacono, Mario. “Archetypes and Historicity: Painting and Other Radical Forms 19952007,” Silvana Editoriale, Italy, 2012. Capelli, Pia. “Le Forme Radicali della pittura americana alla collecione Maramotti,”
ARTE, 2012, p 24-25. Staff. “Maramotti From the Radical Forms of Painting,” Lastampa.It, 23 October 2012. Staff. “Photo Galleries,” ARTINFO, 30 July 2012. Quinn, Bryony. “Benjamin Degen,” Its Nice That, 5 December 2011. Radujko, Gabriella. “Mythopoeic LANY Group Show at Peter Blum Gallery in Chelsea,”
Artcards, 19 July 2011. Smith, Roberta. “ART IN REVIEW: The Ankle Bones are Higher on the Inside,” The
New York Times, 31 July 2009. Smith, Roberta. “A Gallery Goes Out in a Burst of Energy,” The New York Times, 7 February 2009, p C5. Staff. “Review: Benjamin Degen,” The New
Yorker, 24 March 2008. Curcio, Seth. “Benjamin Degen,” Daily Serving, 24 May 2007. Scott, Andrea K. “Local Heroes: MoMA P.S. 1 survey the past five years of emerging art in New York,” Timeout New York, Issue 496, May 2005. PUBLICATIONS
Diacono, Mario, “Archetypes and Historicity: Painting and Other Radical Forms 19952007,” Silvana Editoriale, Italy, 2012. “New American Paintings #92,” Open Studio Press, Boston, 2011. “Vitamin P2” Phaidon Press, 2011. “The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawing Collection,
BIOGRAPHY
BENJAMIN DEGEN Catalog Raisonne,” Museum of Modern
2013
Art. New York, 2009. “Beyond Bounds-Glow,” Nerman Museum of
Contemporary Art 2012
Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas, 2009.
Visiting Artist Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art
2011
“Off the books – Drawing in Text Space,” curated by Benjamin Degen, Frederieke
Visiting Artist Maryland Institute of
Visiting Artist Yale University School of Art Norfolk Program
2009
Visiting Artist Brooklyn College
Taylor Gallery, New York, 2009. “Oppenheimer Collection,” Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park,
RESIDENCIES
Kansas, 2008. “Post-war and contemporary art 17 may 2008” Rago Art and Auction Center.
2007
Me.di.um, St. Barthelemy, French West Indies
Lambertville, New Jersey, 2008. “Painting as Fact – Fact as Fiction,” de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich, Switzerland, 2007. “Greater New York,” P.S.1. Contemporary Art Center / Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2005. COLLECTIONS
Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy The Hort Foundation, New York The Museum of Modern Art, NYC The Nerman MoCA, Kansas The Judith Rothschild Foundation, New York Contemporary Drawings Collection, New York The Tang Museum at Skidmore College, New York UBS Art Collection, New York TEACHING
2012-Present
Visiting Artist Rhode Island School of Design
2016
Drawing as a Process for Visual Thinking, Pioneer Works, NYC
2006-2014 2014
The Cooper Union, NYC
Drawing as a Process for Visual Thinking, Pioneer Works, NYC
2014
Visiting Artist Brandeis University
2013
Visiting Artist Yale University School of Art Norfolk Program
Shell on a Sill, 2017 Oil and spray enamel on linen over panel 24 x 36 in.
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