Ben La Rocco, Generating the Zodiac, 2013, oil and graphite on wood, 11x48 in.
From the Press Release:
Janet Kurnatowski is pleased to present "Fugue State", new paintings by Ben La Rocco. This will be the artist's third solo show with the gallery. Fugue State will be on view from March 22 - April 21, 2013. The gallery will be closed on Easter Sunday, March 31st. Please join the artist for an opening reception on Friday, March 22nd from 7-9pm.
La Rocco's panoramic paintings reveal the possibility of a visual space-time continuum. These works create an experience that induces a mode of contemplation concerned with the theoretical origins of knowledge and the known universe. La Rocco uses long, horizontal panels to knowingly negate the physical effects of gravity, which provides the viewer with a free-floating and omniscient position vis-a-vis outer space. La Rocco's formal decisions astutely reinforce his appropriation of ancient graphic symbols. These cosmic and astrological signifiers represent a tension between science, religion, philosophy and art; his reference to such a synthesis is an invitation if not a bridge that can be used to potentially span the illusion of time and space, in order to recall what was once known.
Ben La Rocco received his MFA from Pratt institute in 2004. He is represented by Janet Kurnatowski Gallery in New York and John Davis Gallery in Hudson. He has been a visiting professor at Rutgers in New Brunswick and at Purchase College, and has lectured and been a visiting critic at Rutgers, Montclair, Hunter, and PS1 and the National Academy Museum. He currently teaches in the fine art department of Pratt Institute. He has been the recipient of a Marie Walsh Sharpe artist residency (2005-6) and the S.J. Wallace Truman Fund Award for Painting from The National Academy of Design Museum. Most recently he received a residency at the Dam Stuhltrager Gallery, Berlin. La Rocco is a contributing writer and is the editor at large for The Brooklyn Rail. Ben La Rocco is a painter living and working in Brooklyn. For more information or images, please contact the gallery.
Thomas Miccelli interviews Ben La Rocco for Hyperallergic here.
Ben La Rocco: Fugue State
March 22 - April 21, 2013
205 Norman Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
*Image courtesy of the Janet Kurnatowski Gallery
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