August 5 – September 2, 2023
Opening reception: Saturday, August 5th, 5 - 8PM
RUSCHMAN
4148 N. Elston Ave.
Chicago, IL 60618
RUSCHMAN is very pleased to present a solo exhibition of new sculptures and arrangements by Keith Benjamin. For over two decades,
Benjamin has pared down and constructed objects from entirely repurposed materials, utilizing the leftovers, remains, and
oft-discarded elements of a life lived. The resultant artworks necessarily always look to the past with their implied previous
uses rarely hidden, only modified, while presenting tenderly humorous approaches toward (re)viewing a ridiculous present and a
potentially optimistic future.
Old flip phones, discarded kitchen appliances, clothing that has worn through, beer and soda boxes, cardboard, twist ties, food
containers, rubber, wood, wire, rusted toolboxes, things that have served their purpose and/or are ready to retire, are all part
of the studio’s economy and ecosystem. Spent lighters are cut open and present bouquets of salvaged twist ties. An old refrigerator
shell is cut into strips and woven back together with denim seams. Cardboard boxes adorned with images of condensation are cut into
comically-shaped droplets and placed on-top-of and in-between cell phones in a half-joking/half-shocking gesture toward one of our
worst nightmares and greatest annoyances. Nothing is bought for the purposes of art production; but instead for the purposes of
living—food, rest, shelter, the maintenance of the home, and the necessity for interspersed moments of leisure. Gathered from every
corner of domestic life, these reprocessed materials have been organized by various shades of blue, (color)coded into the realms of
both work and feeling. We can laugh about the blues, and also keep going.
KEITH BENJAMIN is a sculptor living and working in the Cincinnati region. His creative practice is an ongoing process of re-valuing
and re-arranging the objects and materials from his home. He received his MFA from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and is
Professor of Sculpture at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he also serves as the Studio Arts Department Chair. In 2011 he was
awarded a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. From 1998 to 2005 he operated the venerable Warsaw Project Space in Cincinnati, OH.
Keith Benjamin,
arrangements: mon. and wed.,
2022, Lighters and twist ties, 4h x 3/4w x 1/2d in. (each)
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