AL’S OFFICE

BENJAMIN HEIKEN | A Difference Of Worlds

September 11 - October 14, 2022

VIEW EXHIBITION

In these paintings, imagery is about the drama of being or existing, because an image could easily shift to become just a shape or a color. A depiction of a person might be painted over, or be obscured into oblivion, or just sort of exist as an abstraction. Imagine a child squishing bugs and thinking it was at first a bug but now it's a brown splotch.

In a painting though, what is the difference between imagery and abstraction? A red painted splotch that just covered a face is beautiful and wonderful on its own. Any mark made is just a celebration of that mark and the context it is placed in or on. What a wonder? —Everything is so ephemeral, and an exaltation of its nowness.

Benjamin Thure Heiken (b. 1977, Quilcene, Washington) received his BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) and his MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art. Heiken has moved around all over the Pacific Northwest and has lived abroad in both Spain and the UK. He currently lives in Spokane, Washington.

Heiken has shown work across the US and world, including the Barbican Arts Group Trust (London), ArtWorks Open (London), TAP Gallery (Southend-on-Sea, UK), the University College London Museum (London), Hunter/Whitfield (London), Bosse & Baum (London), La Grange Gallery (Cernay-Les-Reims, France), Warbling Collective (London), Elysium Gallery (Swansea, UK), Eccleston Project Space (London), United Way Gallery (Portland, OR), Spokane Public Library (Spokane, WA), and Object Space Gallery (Spokane, WA). His work was featured in the 2018 New American Paintings Pacific issue.

In 2013, Heiken was awarded the Chelsea Club Trust Award in London. In 2014, he was nominated for the Red Mansion Art Prize (Beijing, China) and long-listed for the Saatchi New Sensations Prize (London).