Feature Inc :: Ben Snead Exhibition 20 May

Using his childhood experiences and field manuals as primary sources of reference, Ben Snead paints fish, beetles, insects, birds, and frogs, arranging or choreographing them in simple, repetitive, geometric patterns on softly modeled tones. His classification systems are developed primarily on aesthetic rather than scientific values, and the unnatural configurations, are mostly about patterning, decoration, and mild sociological
commentary on beauty and exoticism, same and other, work and play.

Often, especially in the most recent paintings, a layering of the patterns coupled with a complex push and pull within the figure ground relationships, creates a pulsing phantasmagoria. If alone for their color and structure, which is anatomically correct, there is an exuberance in these depicted creatures which leaves one to wonder if they have any self awareness of the fleeting nature of their lives, their beauty and their
individuality.