"Otherworldly riverine landscapes unfold beneath green clouds, and uncanny caverns are dotted with cotton candy-like shrubs in the surreal oil paintings of Gabe Benzur. With color forefront in his mind, the Brooklyn-based artist's compositions teeter between representation and imagination. He begins by creating scenes digitally, then transfers the renderings into drawings, followed by canvases. Benzur renders billowing clouds, mountains, and calderas in distinctive palettes, some of which are more fantastical than others."
"Works like "Uni" and "Menrva" evoke the transcendental landscapes of Agnes Pelton, while pieces like "Orcus" and "Mania" take on an almost cartoonish quality in their melting, sticky formations that play with our impressions of reality. Benzur is influenced by places he's been or read about while also incorporating elements of cartoons, the supernatural, mythology, memories, anatomy, and more. "I follow no specific visual lineage," he says."
Gabe Benzur composes surreal oil paintings that depict otherworldly riverine landscapes, green clouds, uncanny caverns, and cotton candy-like shrubs. Color is foregrounded in his work, with distinctive palettes ranging from fantastical to slightly cartoonish. Benzur develops scenes digitally, translates renderings into drawings, and completes them on canvas. Imagery draws from places visited or read about, cartoons, the supernatural, mythology, memories, and anatomy. Some works evoke transcendental landscapes similar in spirit to Agnes Pelton, while others present melting, sticky formations that challenge perceptions of reality. Several pieces are on view at Hashimoto Contemporary through February 7 in New York City.
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