Nick Benfey
Nick Benfey
Nick Benfey
Nick Benfey is a painter living in Brooklyn, NY. In 2021 he was part of the group show Frozen Time at Annarumma Gallery in Naples, Italy. Before moving to New York, he lived in Portland, ME, where he curated and showed work at Able Baker Contemporary, New System Exhibitions, Border Patrol, and Elizabeth Moss Gallery.
Astral Plane (Hillside)
2021 Oil and acrylic on canvas 132 x 112 cm / 52 x 44 in
Nick Benfey’s paintings are populated by the familiar residues of personal memory, as well as the nostalgic longing and nightmarish foreboding of the irrational psyche. Cosmic ruptures, precarious cliffs, and parking lots appear alongside snowglobes and canopy beds. The paintings suggest things to be wary of, looming subliminally, while giving space for optimistic fantasy and reflective wonder.
Green-Wood Cemetery
2020 Oil and acrylic on canvas 109 x 180 cm / 43 x 71 in
Star Gate: Mall
2021 Oil and acrylic on panel 76 x 61 cm / 30 x 24 in
Hunter MFA
This spring, the Hunter College MFA Program in Studio Art will graduate 26 artists who completed their degree over the challenging months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These talented MFA Thesis Candidates are exhibiting their work in six group exhibitions at 205 Hudson, in addition to this online spotlight hosted by Hauser & Wirth. At time when the public audience for in-person exhibitions has been limited by the pandemic, we are excited to provide this digital platform to the emerging artists from Hunter College’s MFA Program in Studio Art.
Images: Portrait of Nick Benfey. Photo: Néstor Pérez-Molière; Nick Benfey, Astral Plane (Hillside), 2021. Photo: Nick Benfey; Studio images. Photo: Nick Benfey; Nick Benfey, Green-Wood Cemetery, 2020. Photo: Nick Benfey; Nick Benfey, Star Gate: Mall, 2021. Photo: Nick Benfey