Benjamin Duke

Lost in Dinard, Surreal Architectural Landscape with Two Figures by Ben Duke

2018

The painterly style of Ben Duke is beautifully rendered in this small painting on panel titled "We Will Build Our Dreams and Then Live in Them". The couple is engaged in something out of sight for the viewer but give a casual feel to the entire scene. The sailboat conjures up the thoughts of sailing off into the unknown. The painting is framed in a simple black wooden frame measuring 12h x 15w inches. Ben Duke We Will Build Our Dreams and Then Live in Them #2 oil on panel 11h x 14w in 27.94h x 35.56w cm BSD024 Ben Duke b. 1977 Louisville, KY Education 2006 M.F.A., Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD 2002 B.F.A., University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 2001 Summer School of Music and Art, Yale University, New Haven, CT Selected Exhibitions 2017 Distortion, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions: Inaugural Exhibition, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 The Suburbs Eyes: Picturing the Sprawl, (invitational), Ernestine M Raclin Gallery, Indiana University, South Bend, IN 2014 21 and Counting, The Painting Center, New York City, NY A River Without Banks, Paul Collins Art Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI The Contemporary Figure, Ben Duke and Robert McCann, Moss-Thron Gallery of Art, Fort Hays, KS 2013 Benjamin Swallow Duke and Nathan Barnes, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture, Bozeman, MT Benjamin Swallow Duke and Esther Randall, Rosewood Gallery, Kettering, OH Thresholds, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE 2012 Sublime Rupture, Target Gallery, Catalog with Essay by Dominique Nahas, Alexandria, VA 2011 Identity In Itself, Lapham Gallery, Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Center, Glens Falls, NY Benjamin Duke, Tony Shumsky, Roy G. Biv Gallery, Columbus, OH Upheaval, [traveling solo exhibition] University Art Gallery, Saginaw Valley State University, Saginaw, MI 2010 Kuandu Museum Residency Show and Open Studio, Kuandu Museum of Fine Art, Taipei, Taiwan Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, MI Art Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Upheaval, [traveling solo exhibition] Cloyde Snook Gallery, Adams State College, Alamosa, CO Floating, Fitton Art Center, Hamilton, OH 2009 Disrupted Particulars, Macomb Center for the Performing Arts, Clinton Township, MI Art Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Notwishstanding, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art), 7th Regiment Armory, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY Biennial 25, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN 2008 We Drew a Circle and Called it and Island, Garden City Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan Benjamin Duke and Teresa Dunn, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, WI Imaginary Cities, Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, IL Awakening, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2007 SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art), 7th Regiment Armory, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY Art Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Palm Beach 3, Palm Beach County Convention Center, Ann Nathan Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL Above and Beyond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Darkness: World and Culture, Caladan Gallery, Beverly, MA Baker Arts Center 10th National Juried Exhibition, Liberal, KS Nude International, Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY 2006 Launch: Graduate Thesis Show, Baltimore, MD (solo) Second Chance: Brewer’s Art, Baltimore, MD (solo) Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, MI Academy 2006, Conner Contemporary, Washington, DC. Opening Exhibition, Touchet Gallery, Baltimore, MD Only Human, School 33, Baltimore, MD Go Figure, Maryland Federation of Art, Baltimore, MD 2005 Emerging Artists, Maryland Federation of Art, Baltimore, MD real vs. Real, City Café, Baltimore, MD Artscape Art Fair, Baltimore, MD Group Show, Hoffberger Gallery, Baltimore, MD 2004 Clamor, Rose Wagner Center for the Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (solo) Boxing, Fox Gallery, Baltimore, MD 2003 Paintings, Finch Lane Gallery. Salt Lake City, UT (solo) Regional Show, Saint George Art Museum, Saint George, UT Show us Your Stuff, Left Bank Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT Spring Salon, Springville Art Museum, Springville, UT 2002 Trasa Urban Arts, Salt Lake City, UT 2001 Seen and Unseen, Union Art Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT (solo) Professional Experience 2006-present Assistant Professor, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 2006-2005 Instructor, Ruriart Community Art Center, Ellicott City, MD 2004-2003 Instructor, Peterson Art Center, Salt Lake City, UT Selected Awards 2015 Alfred and Trafford Klots...

"Contaminating the Innocent" is a bold statement on our society today. Plastics are everywhere and what they are doing to the environment is devastating. What they are doing to the next generation is even more catastrophic. Bruno plays with this idea by bringing this angelic child to the forefront of the issues at hand. We are drawn in by her innocence yet taunted by her surroundings. Bruno Surdo Contaminating the Innocent oil on canvas 48h x 48w in 121.92h x 121.92w cm BRS072 Bruno A. Surdo b. Chicago, 1963 EXHIBITIONS 2020 Realities, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2018 Liberation, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Blood Sport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Art on Paper 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Pier 36, New York, NY SOFA Chicago 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL 2017 POP!ARAZZI, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 SOFA Chicago 2015, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Allegories, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2014 Bruno Surdo: Respond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Modern Metaphors, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL 2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Vice + Virtue, Northern Illinois University Museum of Art 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN 2011 Bruno Surdo, University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, Fort Wayne, IN Uncensored, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Chicago 2010, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2009 Art Chicago 2009, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2007 Bruno Surdo, Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Context/Content: Making Meaning with the Figure, University of Arkansas, Conway, AR Creative Imaginings, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Bruno Surdo: Cycles, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005 Art Chicago 2005, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004 Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Group Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY Drawings VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Armory Show, New York Armory, New York, NY 2003 Paintings & Drawings, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL The Art Show, New York, NY Bruno Surdo: New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003-10 International Show of Contemporary Artists, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL 2002 Bruno Surdo: Perception of Appearance, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Transcendence, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 1998 Evanston and Vicinity Artists, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL 1996 Bruno Surdo: A Personal View, University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI 1995 Bruno Surdo: Recent Works, College of Lake County, IL AIDS in Our Society, Loyola University, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Life, Struggle, and Hope, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR Bruno Surdo: Dualities of Life, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Group Show, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 Group Exhibition, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL 1995 Spiritual Inquiries, Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL 1994 Recent Works, The 14th Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artists, Grayslake, IL Go Figure, Figurative Works on Paper, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL SELECTED COLLECTIONS The Re-Birth of Venus, Temporary Loan, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR College of Lake County, Greyslake, IL Flashpoint Academy, Chicago IL John Robert Wiltgen Design Shoemaker Ruud Collection Julie & Thomas Danilek Michael Vozzella and Mike Silver Benjamin Fernandez Tom Braake Betsy Colburn Michael Diemand & Lor LaRose Michael Staab & Kathy Brock Bruce Leep Frank Tzurect Mary Foley Rosalyn Carlson Mimmy Turney Janet Long Halstead Billy Hunt Carol Galli Myles Kerrigan Honorable & Mrs. Edwin Berman Theodore Gage Northrop Art Museum Past Present & Future Company Dr. James & Peggy Kemmler Salvatore Monastero Nix & Virginia Lauridsen Joel Miller David & Marlene Zerkel Ann & Andy Abel Claudia Rush Marc Miller Leonard Goldberg Lawrence Pucci Howard Tullman Collection Susan & Manny Kramer James Rinnert Richar Interiors Michael & Nancy Colt Khalid Altijir Dr. Joe Grodman Beryl & Jack Gore Larry Wolf & Eric Naegle Chuck Wolandi Jack Schwab & David Sandelin Thomas Kaczmarek Marti Dinerstein Craig & Michael Golden...

This painting was part of a series of foxglove studies that I created while hiking in the Olympic peninsula in Washington in July of 2021. The Foxglove were growing wild...

My painting is an inquiry. I make images as a way of responding to experiences that are important to me. Experiences that help me to understand why I’m in this world often happens when I am outside in large open spaces. Painted images act as a tool. I respond to the spaces my art suggests. That response is usually non-verbal. I am interested in the experience of non-duality that “getting lost” in big spaces can sometimes produce for me. The paintings have gone through a range of artistic treatments with the recent years seeing a focus on space, light, textures, atmosphere and distance. My landscape paintings are made from memory, not from on-site drawings or photographs. I use memory as a filtering agent to remove non-essential visual elements. When a work is successful, it must have a sense of poetry. There is nothing “new...