Will Bentsen
Jackpot!
September 10 - October 8, 2022
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 10, 5-7pm
Will Bentsen, Jackpot, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 72h x 60w in / 182.88h x 152.40w cm, WB-034
Lowell Ryan Projects is pleased to present our second solo exhibition with Houston-based artist Will Bentsen. Bentsen’s cathartic process, often carried out in a single painting secession, produces exuberant, vibrant works that yield a visceral response. Washes of acrylic paint in saturated hues ground a fury of rapid brushwork. In this exhibition, titled Jackpot!, twelve bold acrylic abstractions, all produced over the course of the last year, are on view.
Downstairs a series of paintings utilize red as a unifying force, while the works upstairs present a palette of green, purple, and orange. The two largest paintings, each 72h x 96w inches in scale, envelop the viewer in motion. Nightshade sets a flurry of pale pink and purple brushstrokes against a backdrop of orange-red and magenta washes. Across the room, the entire canvas of In the Grip is engulfed in a whirlwind of fire engine red and cadmium yellow marks. While the works are not process-based, the viewer experiences the artist’s method when contemplation gives way to intuition in an exhilarating effect.
Timely in their approach physically and mentally, Bentsen creates paintings that live beyond a conceptual arena. Palpable in the works is the desire to quell the voices in one’s head, to think instinctively in the moment, and experience primal shifts in color and movement in a satisfying exorcism of emotion. Redolent in their veneration for the medium and their predecessors—Ed Moses, Cecily Brown, Stanley Whitney, and Joan Mitchell being a few of the artist’s favorites—Bentsen’s paintings do not question their place or purpose. A confidence is exuded that lives outside the need for adoration; the works are a product of the need to both produce joy and to create.
Will Bentsen (b. 1965, Houston, TX) lives and works in Houston, TX. His painting process involves ritualistic sessions where his fetish for materials, tools, and the act of painting are embraced and celebrated in visceral bursts. Working on multiple paintings at once, Bentsen splashes, stains, brushes, and drags paint across the canvas' surfaces—hitting each note of color with speed, softness, and restraint that manifest in energetic riffs and chords. Bentsen is represented by Lowell Ryan Projects in Los Angeles, CA and Josh Pazda Hiram Butler in Houston, TX.
