FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLK/MRKT Gallery is proud to announce the first solo exhibition of Canadian painter and illustrator
BEN TOUR: A SNEAKING SUSPICION
November 26 – December 31, 2005
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 26, 6-10pm
BLK/MRKT Gallery
6009 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
310 837 1989, fax 310 837 1919
Contact, Jana DesForges
E-mail, <contact@blkmrktgallery.com>
Web site, <http://www.blkmrktgallery.com>
Gallery hours, Tuesday through Saturday 11-6pm
Ben Tour, “Acrobat”, 2005, Acrylic on Wood panel, 48 x 48 inches.
Prepare to fall in love. Ben Tour’s paintings and drawings are primarily portraits, of characters real and imagined, forming a kind of visual diary of personalities that have impressed Tour, and inspired him, even in their absence, to attempt capturing the qualities of those impressions. The images are nearly always composed of a central figure occupying an indistinct ground, with passages of pristine white space offsetting densely detailed areas, keeping the eye curious. Subtle variations in color and the unexpected transitions between them give both the figures and their surroundings a haunting, indeterminate aura and rich painterly texture. Faces are modeled using dissonant pigmentation and jaunty, distorted contours; his portraiture is not realist, it is evocative. It has gravitas, wit and specificity without regard for accuracy.
Adding to the liveliness of the paintings is the variety of media he employs, from acrylic and spray paint to ink, graphite and rub-on lettering. This is particularly interesting, as he uses alphanumeric characters as elements of abstraction, not as text per se. The contrapuntal relationship between the shapes built from poured, wet paint and the striking gestural lines that hover over them turn these sensual abstractions into welcome cogent forms. Evidence of his process remains visible everywhere; engineering figures that become defined from the inside out.
Lucien Freud once said, “When I look at a body it gives me choice of what to put in a painting, what will suit me and what won't. There is a distinction between fact and truth. Truth has an element of revelation about it. If something is true, it does more than strike one as merely being so.” This is a wonderful way to understand the creative impulse that steers a portrait away from representation, but Freud is also talking about exerting control, whereas Tour embraces chance in his technique. But none of this explains the immediate, almost visceral, positive effect Tour’s paintings have on most viewers—and that can’t be a bad thing—especially for an artist so young.
Tour belongs to a tradition of patient craftsmanship unusual for his generation, a willingness to think deeply, take risks, do the hard work and get out of his own way. But like Freud’s relentless use of that yellow and white striped armchair, Tour has recourse to a broad but circumscribed language of gestures. As viewers move through the exhibition, Tour’s lexicon of symbols and transparent process reveals itself in stages, its nonsensical sense unfolding like the internal logic of a dream – and Tour is discovering it right along with them.
BLK/MRKT Gallery was established in 2001 with an emphasis on urban contemporary art and has become a premier Los Angeles destination for established and up-and-coming artists and enthusiasts alike. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday 11-6pm. <http://www.blkmrktgallery.com>
