Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect features the penciled, chopped, painted, and glued together works of Benjamin Terry. Seating will be provided by the artist, which can probably hold a person…as long as you’re in complete control of your body.
Not quite an architect, Terry builds his 3D paintings of construction grade plywood, creating a depth that is easy to inhabit. They would be easier to touch. Like Ellsworth Kelly’s small works, they give the sense of being left-overs that taste better. Half manual labor and half delicate touch. Half joyous latex colors and half white on white on white. One or two seem like spiritual charcoal. Others are builder’s drawings. One is a nice guy painting, full of longing. But no matter which, all convey a sudden crooked balance. A funny distilled brilliance. Patiently waited for – and captured.
Jigsawed heart on his sleeve and all “…Pennants, rainbows, canopies, and lunar charts could’ve played a part in the way in which the prevalent patterns and hues read to a viewer. There was an enjoyable frivolity and absurd joy that rang forth from these less confined formas, as if the formality of a wedding has finally loosened its bowtie on the dance floor…” -Kennedy, Brandon for Patron Magazine
“…they’re funny. They’re light, there’s a good bit of joy in them. But they’re nearly as cynical. Terry’s paint palette is simple and garish but roughly applied, chipped like old circus equipment. From a distance they’re silly, but up close, they’re witty…If you fight the ADHD and spend a little time, crane your neck, look at the edges, stand on your tiptoes, peer over the top and crouch down to peek underneath, the shoddy, haphazardness of Terry’s stuff gives way to careful, detailed construction that refuses to take itself too seriously…We live in a pretty anxious time and like all of us, Terry’s things seem to be holding themselves together as best they can…Terry makes these slight formal gestures pay off in a big way by lowering our expectations overall, opening us up to even the smallest surprise. All of Terry’s things give the illusion of tottering between over-construction and collapse. The magic is comic. I don’t laugh much but if art needs anything these days, it could use a few well-timed, visually precise jokes.” – Alex Barber for Glass Tire
Benjamin Terry | Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect | Johansson Projects
Exhibition Dates: August 2 – October 19, 2019
Preview: July 25 – 27
Artist Reception: Friday, August 2, 2019 from 5pm – 8pm
Johansson Projects
2300 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland, CA
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