About

I am an architect and artist based in Providence, Rhode Island and New York City.

My education as an architect was informed by two different schools of thinking in regards to representation: a foundation of traditional techniques of drawing and making, followed by experimentation with digital media in architecture and design. While my work as an artist is fully hand made, my approach to composition perhaps unavoidably draws on both the analog and digital influences of my education in thinking about the nature of a surface.

About the work

My work reflects an interest in framing and creating conversations between figures and fields in a composition. Through photography, drawing, collage, and painting, I think of this work as being both abstract and narrative - depicting shapes, colors, lines and textures which begin to suggest stories through their relationships.  

Like the layers that have accrued on the walls of a building over time, I similarly approach painting as the application of layers consisting of various paints, paper, and other mediums. These compositions are a record of this process of covering or redefining previous gestures, and a search for expression through the tension, balance, and dialogue between the various elements on the canvas. Their loose edges, soft focus, and ambiguous forms are intended to leave their stories open-ended and up to the interpretation of the viewer. In that sense, my hope is that the work invites speculation, imagination, and engagement.

EXHIBITions

2024
CONNECT, juried group show, Art League of Rhode Island, Pawtucket, RI
White and Texture, juried group show, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, South Yarmouth, MA
Variations 2024, juried group show, Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead, MA

2021
Sugli Alberi / In the Trees, solo show at l’Artisan Cafe, Providence, RI
Windows on Pawtucket, juried group show, Art League of Rhode Island, Pawtucket, RI

2019
Fountain Street Artists, invited group show, Gallery 175, Pawtucket, RI
Through the Surface, juried group show, 6 Bridges Gallery, Maynard, MA
Twisting Fibers, juried group show, Art League of Rhode Island, Pawtucket, RI
Prince Street Gallery Annual National Juried Exhibition, New York, NY
Shadows, international juried group show, Millepiani gallery, Rome, Italy
Works for Winter, invited group show, Gallery at FOUR, Tiverton, RI

2018
Transformation, international juried group show, Gallery MC, New York, NY
Artists Among Us, invited group show, Gallery at FOUR, Tiverton, RI
Conception Arts, juried group show, M1-5 Lounge, New York, NY
Dreams, international juried group show, 25N Gallery online

For more information, please contact me: ben@benpell.com