Artist

M. Benjamin Herndon

Born 1985 in Quincy, California

M. Benjamin Herndon, As, Under, 2022, Graphite in oil on canvas, 72x84 inches, (Installation view)

The monochromatic, matte black surfaces are then selectively hand-polished to reveal fields of lustrous, reflective silver tones that emerge from the paint film, creating light from the darkness.

Selected Works

These are a selected group of works and installation photographs. For a complete list of available works please contact us.

M. Benjamin Herndon

The material process of my work has evolved gradually but significantly over the past seven years as I have refined my handmade graphite paint and my methods of painting through continual experimentation. The current body of paintings’ surfaces are slowly built up on canvas with up to thirty carefully made, thin coats of paint, and my compositions are arrived at by means of many small-scale studies on similarly prepared paper. The monochromatic, matte black surfaces are then selectively hand-polished to reveal fields of lustrous, reflective silver tones that emerge from the paint film, creating light from the darkness. In the end, the complexity of my process gives way to a simple pursuit of subtle, quiet beauty.

This pursuit materializes in both formal and conceptual terms, insofar as my compositional focus on balanced asymmetry is analogous to the essential unity of presumed dichotomies. Graphite, a crystalline form of elemental carbon, has the ability to both absorb and reflect light, essentially containing both lightness and darkness. I have a conceptual and poetic interest in this metaphor, namely that a single material can embody both the void and the hope of escaping it.

Biography

M. Benjamin Herndon studied science, mathematics and philosophy before transitioning to the visual arts. Of his chosen focus he has said that he can explore concepts from his earlier education intensely and in a way that is inventive, meditative and poetic.

M. Benjamin Herndon (born 1985) grew up in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California, and now lives in Providence, Rhode Island, where he makes work in his studio in an historic textile mill. Herndon received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 and his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 2012. He has been an artist in residence at the Tamarind Institute for Fine Art Lithography, the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, and Marble House Project, among others. His work has been exhibited in galleries across the United States, China, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates, and is enjoyed in many private collections. Herndon is represented by Emerson Dorsch Gallery.

CV

EDUCATION

2016 MFA, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

2012 BFA, School of Visual Arts, with Honors, New York, NY

2004-07, Studied philosophy at Reed College and Portland State University; mathematics at the University of Nevada, Reno

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018

Graphite Paintings, A R E A, Boston, MA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022

Transitions, A.M. Bjiere Gallery, New York, NY

2021

Splitting the Rent, Jay Taylor Gallery, Providence, RI

Shape in All its Forms, Site: Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY

2020

Materia, Bermel von Luxburg Galerie, Berlin, Germany

Currency, BAIT15, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

2019

Holiday, LABspace, Hillsdale, NY

Grounded, Rule Gallery, Denver, CO

FIELDS: Color, Tone, Vision, Inde/Jacobs Gallery, Marfa, TX

In the Stillness, Freud Monk Gallery, online exhibition

2018

Selections for Chinati Weekend, Inde/Jacobs Gallery, Marfa, TX

Forms of Expression: Geometric Abstraction, organized by A R E A at the Yard, Boston, MA

Collage II, A R E A, Boston, MA

RISD Faculty Exhibition, RISD Museum, Providence, RI

The Nature Lab, curated by Eric Wolf, LABSpace, Hillsdale, NY

RISD Printmaking Department Triennial, Woods-Gerry Gallery Providence, RI

2017

Collage, A R E A, Boston, MA

Art Shenzhen 2017, Art Fair, Showing with Tang Contemporary Art, Shenzhen, China

Implicit, Miranda Kuo Gallery, New York, NY

Everlasting, curated by Ting Liu, Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

Awagami Print Expression, Bumpodo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2016

Stand Out Prints, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis, MN

11th Annual Juried Exhibition, curated by Gregory Volk, Axis Gallery Sacramento, CA

New Contemporaries, Gelman Gallery, RISD Museum, Providence, RI

The Glare, curated by Leah Wolff, NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, NY

RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition, Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, RI

Vanishing Point, Former Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ

Sprung, Rabbithole Projects, Brooklyn, NY

New Prints: Winter, International Print Center of New York, New York, NY

Lasting Impressions, 505 Fletcher, Providence, RI

2015

Sanctus, Curious Matter Gallery, Jersey City, NJ

Language vs. Language, curated by Maya Krinsky, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI

Making Meaning, Drift Contemporary Art Gallery, Portsmouth, NH

Open15 Online Exhibition, Front Art Space, New York, NY

Spring, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI

2014

Printmaking Department Triennial, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

2012

Urban Legends, curated by Mollie Thonneson, Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark, NJ

Natural, curated by Richard Brooks, SVA Chelsea Gallery, New York, NY

Material Magic / Print Settings, BFA Fine Arts Department show, SVA Chelsea Gallery, New York, NY

It’s A Small Small World, curated by Hennessy Youngman, Family Business Gallery, New York, NY

Affordable Art Fair, School of Visual Arts’ booth, curated by Dan Halm, New York, NY

BFA Fine Arts Open Studios, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

2011

Topophilia, curated by Eric Lendl, SVA Gallery, New York, NY

BFA Fine Arts Open Studios, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

2010

Main Street Artists Gallery, Quincy, CA

2009

The Studio Gallery, Quincy, CA

HONORS AND AWARDS

2022

Fellowship in Painting, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts

2020

Tamarind Institute, Artist Residency, Albuquerque, NM

2019

Rose Museum Emerging Artist Purchase Award Finalist, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

2018

Tamarind Institute, Summer Workshop, Albuquerque, NM

2017

Marble House Projects Residency, Dorset, VT

Josef & Anni Albers Foundation Residency, Bethany, CT

2016

Vermont Studio Center Residency & Grant

RISD Graduate Studies Grant

2014-16

RISD Graduate Division Fellowship

2012

School of Visual Arts Alumni Grant

School of Visual Arts Undergraduate Fine Arts Thesis Award

2010-12

Silas H. Rhodes Scholarship

Dean’s List, School of Visual Arts

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2019

freudmonkgallery.com, interview with curator Adam Reid Fox

New England Home, feature by William Morgan, Boston, MA

2018

Boston Globe, Critic’s Pick, Graphite Paintings at A R E A, by Cate McQuaid

New American Paintings, Issue 135, MFA Annual, Boston, MA

SVA Journal, Alumni Feature, School of Visual Arts Press, New York, NY

SVA Lookbook (for prospective students), School of Visual Arts Press, New York, NY

ArtMaze Mag, Winter Issue 6, London, England

The Nature Lab (exhibition catalog), LABSpace, Hillsdale, NY

2017

yngspc.com, interview with curator Kate Mothes

Eternity (exhibition catalog), Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, China

Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 38, Summer 2017, Boston, MA

Awagami Print Expression (exhibition catalog), Bumpodo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2016

11th Annual Juried Exhibition (catalog), essay by Gregory Volk, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, CA

Vanishing Point (exhibition catalog), Art House Productions Press, Jersey City, NJ

2015

RISD XYZ, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

Sanctus (exhibition catalog), Curious Matter Gallery, Jersey City, NJ

Open15 Publication, Front Art Space, New York, NY

2013

Humans of New York, photoblog feature, New York, NY

20 Twenty, curated and essay by Phong Bui, School of Visual Arts Press, New York, NY

Share

Learn more about this artist.

Related

For a complete list of related materials please contact us.

Exhibitions

No results found.

News

No results found.

Fairs

No results found.

Program

Visit by Appointment

Due to COVID-19, we are open by appointment. The gallery will follow social distancing protocol and allow only a certain number of visitors per appointment.