Artist Statement
My recent works, composed of gouache on paper, explore to extract my own ever developing definition of “American identity”. While attempting to define a broad sense of identity is nearly improbable due to America’s constantly shifting cultural landscape, by exploring moments of recent and historical American events through a tailored visual language, I create and constantly recreate my own identity as a pathway to understanding the current. I hope to enhance and highlight topics of historical and societal turbulence that effect the individual, and therefore society on a larger scale. My work attempts to function metonymically by associating visually graphic insignias, cultural identifiers, traces of my surroundings, and encounters without elaborating on the relation between them to create views of a vantage driven American narrative based on identity and heritage. These identifiers orbit and utilize topics of race, gender, the authoritative voice, escapism into the western American landscape, idealism and the attempt to belong as vehicles to further dissect identity.
Recent Shows and/or Exhibitions
2024: “weird West”, Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
2024: “Counter Cowboy”, Group Exhibition, Visions West Contemporary, Denver, CO
2023: “Group Shoe 3”, Curated by Mario Ayala, Group Exhibition, House Of Seiko, San Francisco, CA
2023: “For the Love of Dog”, Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
2023: “Inaugural Group Show”, Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2022: “Unnatural Histories XI”, Group Exhibition, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
2022: “The Poison Garden”, Annual Group Exhibition, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
2021: “Context Art Miami”, Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, Miami, FL
2020: “Wherever I May Roam: Ben Venom & Alex Ziv”, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2020: “Greetings From Miami” Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, NYC, NY
2020: “Multiples” Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, NYC, NY
2020: “Friends & Family” Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
My recent works, composed of gouache on paper, explore to extract my own ever developing definition of “American identity”. While attempting to define a broad sense of identity is nearly improbable due to America’s constantly shifting cultural landscape, by exploring moments of recent and historical American events through a tailored visual language, I create and constantly recreate my own identity as a pathway to understanding the current. I hope to enhance and highlight topics of historical and societal turbulence that effect the individual, and therefore society on a larger scale. My work attempts to function metonymically by associating visually graphic insignias, cultural identifiers, traces of my surroundings, and encounters without elaborating on the relation between them to create views of a vantage driven American narrative based on identity and heritage. These identifiers orbit and utilize topics of race, gender, the authoritative voice, escapism into the western American landscape, idealism and the attempt to belong as vehicles to further dissect identity.
Recent Shows and/or Exhibitions
2024: “weird West”, Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
2024: “Counter Cowboy”, Group Exhibition, Visions West Contemporary, Denver, CO
2023: “Group Shoe 3”, Curated by Mario Ayala, Group Exhibition, House Of Seiko, San Francisco, CA
2023: “For the Love of Dog”, Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
2023: “Inaugural Group Show”, Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2022: “Unnatural Histories XI”, Group Exhibition, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
2022: “The Poison Garden”, Annual Group Exhibition, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
2021: “Context Art Miami”, Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, Miami, FL
2020: “Wherever I May Roam: Ben Venom & Alex Ziv”, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2020: “Greetings From Miami” Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, NYC, NY
2020: “Multiples” Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, NYC, NY
2020: “Friends & Family” Group Exhibition, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA