Press Release - "Back In Our Minds" a solo exhibition by Ben Quinn
pt.2
Back In Our Minds
Ben Quinn
Opening Reception: Saturday October 12th, 12-10pm.
Artist Talk: Saturday, October 12th at 4pm.
Showing Through: Friday, November 1st, 2019
1523 b Webster St. Oakland, CA 94612
info@part2gallery.com
pt.2 is happy to present “Back In Our Minds” a solo exhibition by Ben Quinn opening Saturday, October 12th in Downtown Oakland. The exhibition will feature a new series of paintings, sculptures, and installation by Los Angeles based artist. pt.2 gallery is located at 1523 b Webster St. and is just blocks away from both 12th & 19th St Bart Stations. Opening receptions at pt.2: are always free and open to the public. To receive a preview of the exhibition please contact info@part2gallery.com.
the ringing in your ear
a cosmic chuckle
persistent whispers of unknown origin
downloading during sleep becomes buried by noise
disappearing in daylight
going far out and coming back
smiling at a flower
confused lovers
live mutations
believing a cloaked existence
and what can you do
sharing the earth
for better or worse
Back in Our Minds, a solo presentation by Ben Quinn, utilizes a multimedia approach to elaborate upon an ongoing psych driven narrative. Relationships between painting, sculpture, installation and sound point to one another as fragmented references to the whole, while forms of repetition in static works allude to varying levels of change. Found objects and images are combined and manipulated by hand to read with an alternative message. The title “Back in Our Minds” is borrowed from Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain album with an intended duel meaning for viewership. Back in our minds, as in leaving our minds and returning, and the itching psychic intuition that tells us instinctively when something is suspicious. Both examples are used personally and collectively as a lens to view the exhibition. With this, the nail and the blade of grass are not unalike.
Ben Quinn (b.1991 Dayton, OH) is an artist living and working in Los Angeles, CA. He received a BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design and MFA from California College of the Arts. Recent solo exhibitions include Cloaca Projects and Fused Space in San Francisco, Littman Gallery at Portland State University, and Massman Gallery in Oakland with group shows at Spaceheater in Brooklyn, Pt.2 in Oakland, Guerrero Gallery in San Francisco, and NIAD in Richmond, CA. Quinn’s work deals mostly with post-psychedelic reflection and sensitivities to the supernatural through painting, sometimes accompanied by image and sound.
CV
Ben Quinn - www.benquinn.info
Education
2016
Master of Fine Arts, California College of the Arts – San Francisco, CA
2013
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Columbus College of Art & Design – Columbus, OH
Solo Exhibitions
2018
Starworm (3) - CLOACA - San Francisco, CA
2017
Grasshead – Massman Gallery – Oakland, CA
Shoegazing – Fused Space / Jessica Silverman Gallery – San Francisco, CA
Magic Thumb – Littman Gallery, PSU – Portland, OR
2016
Small World – Playspace Gallery - San Francisco, CA
Planet Cool – No Place Studios - Columbus, OH
2015
Void – Atrium Gallery, CCA – San Francisco, CA
Fantasy Man – Atrium Gallery, CCA – San Francisco, CA
Purgatory - Atrium Gallery, CCA - San Francisco, CA
2014
Rainbow – Atrium Gallery, CCA – San Francisco, CA
New Paintings – Co-Op Shop and Gallery – Columbus, OH
3D Life – Sean Christopher Gallery – Columbus OH
What a Waste – Skylab Gallery – Columbus, OH
New Paintings – via ROYGBIV Gallery – Columbus, OH
2013
A Painting Show – Skylab Gallery – Columbus, OH
We Are Probably Not Alone – Byers Gallery – Columbus, OH
Taking a Closer Look – Columbus Metropolitan Library – Columbus, OH
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018
The Generation of Choice - Harelsden High Street hosted by Gern - Queens, NY
Juxtapose Clubhouse - Pt.2 Gallery - Miami FL
Anchors and Portals - Guerrero Gallery - San Francisco, CA
Calico Sunset - Pt. 2 Gallery - Oakland, CA
2017
Fulfill the Dream – Spaceheater Gallery – Brooklyn, NY
Virgins Virgining – NIAD Art Center – Richmond, CA
2016
Obstructed Views - Scott Charmin Gallery – Houston, TX
Landfill / Bedrock – Guerrero Gallery – San Francisco, CA
Mallrats – Et. Al Etc. + 100% – Minnesota Street Project – San Francisco, CA
Staring At A Wall – Garage Gallery – Van Nuys, CA
Barclay Simpson Award Exhibition – Tacoah Bruce Gallery – Oakland, CA
Tomorrow Today – Luggage Store Gallery Project Space – San Francisco, CA
MFA Thesis Exhibition – Fused Space – San Francisco, CA
Conspiracy – Minnesota Street Project, 2291 3rd St. – San Francisco, CA
Whose Child Is This? – Cutty Limits - Oakland, CA
2015
So Much World, So Little Reality – Cranium Corporation – San Francisco, CA
Open House – NYSRP Summer Program – Brooklyn, NY
Alone Together – The Wattis – San Francisco, CA
New Normal II – Guerrero Gallery – Oakland, CA
Emotional Vacuum – SF Galleries, CCA – San Francisco, CA
Towards Excomposition – Skylab Gallery – Columbus, OH
2014
Art Broken – Kavachnina Contemporary – Miami, FL
The Way Things Were – Wonder Catacomb Gallery – Columbus, OH
En Masse – Skylab Gallery – Columbus, OH
R.A.W. Gallery – Columbus, OH
2013
Soft Blanket, Slow Thaw – Skylab Gallery, Columbus OH
Love Library – Traveling Exhibition Through Printed Matter
Lucky 7 – International Print Exchange Invitational - Kyoto, Japan
2011
Ben Quinn & Tom Watson – Dayton Art Project – Dayton, OH
Publications / Press
2018
Coco Literary Salon – Bay Area Survey
2017
Mousse Magazine – March
Art Practical – Shoegazing
2016
Art Viewer – “Mallrats at Et. Al Etc.”
Moonlight Magazine Vol. II – Fall
2015
Strangeways – Vol. 3 – November
Curiously Direct – Daydreamer Review – October
InParentheses (IP) Magazine – June
2014
PASTPRESENTFUTURE MAGAZINE I
PASTPRESENTFUTURE MAGAZINE II
PASTPRESENTFUTURE MAGAZINE III
2013
614 Magazine - What’s happening in the Arts? – October
Columbus Alive! – Of Art and Aliens, February
Awards
2016
Barclay Simpson Award – California College of the Arts
Keith Hature Friend Award
2015
Ginny Kleker Scholarship – Commitment to the Arts
Clyde & Co. Community Art Award
2013
President’s Scholarship – Columbus College of Art & Design
Residencies
2015
New York Studio Residency Program - AICAD - Brooklyn, NY
Curatorial
2017
Live Cultures – Willie Young – QUALITY – Oakland, CA
Mind Control @ Alter Space – QUALITY presents Willie Young – San Francisco, CA
2016
SX – Sam Branden – QUALITY – Oakland, CA
Daydreamer II – Group Exhibition – QUALITY – Oakland, CA
Trilitongue Trilithon Trilithong – Megan Reed - QUALITY – Oakland, CA
40 $ec – Yerin Kim – QUALITY – Oakland, CA
Lights Out Night Out – Woody Othello – QUALITY – Oakland, CA
Exotic Blossom – Tosha Stimage + Lana Licata – QUALITY – Oakland, CA
American Value Freak Show – Keith Hature – QUALITY – Oakland, CA
White Lily – Greg Ponchak – QUALITY – Oakland, CA
2015
American Picker – Kirt Hobler – QUALITY – Oakland, CA
Daydreamer I – Group Exhibition – QUALITY – Oakland, CA