PRESS RELEASE
Margaret Thatcher Projects is pleased to present Object/Subject: Two Voices, an exhibition of dimensional painting exploring color, featuring the works of Michelle Benoit and Kevin Finklea. Both internationally exhibited artists structurally build their works on a foundation of reclaimed or found objects, consisting of various refined wood species and specialized plastics, using additive color blocks as a means to communicate the language of their works. The gallery has represented Kevin Finklea since its inception in 1998. Based on an ongoing artistic dialogue between the two artists, Margaret Thatcher Projects is delighted to have Michelle Benoit participate in this season’s opening exhibition.
Kevin Finklea’s contemporary color field paintings exemplify his belief that the simplest gesture is sometimes the best. Painting on carefully selected lumber, Finklea relies on intuition as the basis for his practice. Using rare pigments, he exploits their tonal interactions, highlighting the ways in which the interplay of specifically selected colors affects the viewer experience. The often-subtle color value variations in his works force the viewer to challenge their preconceived notions of color theory and the commonplace visual aesthetics in our daily lives.
Finklea has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with recent shows in Philadelphia and New York. He is also included in corporate and private collections across the world such as, Bridgepoint Capital Limited, London and Wilmington Trust Fund, New York. Reviews of Finklea’s paintings can be found in Art News, The New York Times, New York Contemporary Art Report, Philadelphia City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly. He currently lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.
Taking an alchemic approach, Michelle Benoit’s work captures isolated moments in time, space and place. She uses transparent lucite and coded color combinations to illustrate the idea and urgency of capturing a moment in time. Benoit’s works meet at the present, while incorporating the past through the history in each found object, and hint at the future with semblance of light conveyed in translucent materials. She views the resulting work as, “a contemporary geologic core sample; a very personal yet collective landscape.”
Benoit’s work has been shown both nationally and internationally including Scope Art Fair, Basel Switzerland, the Bristol Art Museum in Rhode Island, and The Stephen McLaughlan Gallery Melbourne, AU, among others. Her work is in the collections of the Swain School of Design now merged with University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, The University of Iowa Museum and Memorial Sloan Kettering’s permanent collection in addition to numerous private collections.