Benjamin Lichtenstein, It's like a brothel in here, 2015, unique state silver gelatin print, 84 x 119cm
OPENING DRINKS: Friday 7 August, 6pm
EXHIBITION: 7 August – 29 August, 2015
Benjamin Lichtenstein does not simply take photographs – he creates them. For this young, upcoming artist, the process does not end at the camera, but extends to the darkroom and beyond. Manipulating the images by hand, strong lines and restrained patterns begin to arise. Merging photography with collage and drawing, the surface of the image is blended to the point where the original medium is no longer recognisable.
For his solo exhibition at Anna Pappas Gallery, Lichtenstein will present a new body of monochromatic works. The multi-panelled compositions embody the artist’s unique imagery through painting masks in the darkroom printing process. Living in Oblivion is Lichtenstein’s most ambitious body of work to date, exceeding the usual dimensions of his work and pushing the limits during the printing process. Living in Oblivion references the film of the same name, described as ‘a film about filmmaking’, alluding to Lichtenstein’s technical proficiency and experimentation with photography as a medium.
Lichtenstein’s images capture the hand of the artist in a way the medium usually denies. The resulting monochromatic creations are unique prints, each work personifying an intimate and distinctive vision.
Lichtenstein holds a Bachelor of Fine Art, Photography, from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne. Selected solo exhibitions include Flower, 2015, Fort Delta, Melbourne; Paperwork, 2014, 136 Johnston Street, Melbourne; Crescent, 2014, Neospace, Melbourne; Run, Warwick Baker, 2013, The John and Marion Frye Collection, Los Angeles; and I Know You Will Be Happy Here, 2013, Utopian Slumps Project Room, Melbourne. Selected group exhibitions include View From the Window, 2014, Edmund Pearce; Mental, 2014, Muddguts, New York City; Das Boot Fair, 2014, Next Wave Festival, Melbourne; and This Has Been, 2013, c3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne. Lichtenstein has also been a finalist in the Bowness Prize, for Run, Warwick Baker #3, 2013, and recipient of the Kodak Salon at the Centre for Contemporary Photography (Excellence in Photomedia) for Saturday night’s alright, 2006.
