Artist Focus: Charles BenefielThis week, we bring you some artworks from American outsider artist Charles Benefiel (b. 1967), as well as the artist's descriptions of each piece.
To Heal A Wounded Heart You Have To Break It Wide Open (I and II), Ink on paper, 22.9 x 30.5 cm (9 x 12 in.)"These two hearts are based on a dream that I had, and I have drawn these as if they are the metaphysical portraits of people whose bodies they once resided in. I found myself as a spiritual presence in an ancient monastery full of beautiful wood and flowing orange and golden fabrics. I was circling around myself looking over my own shoulder. I had a shaved head and wore the saffron
robes of a monk, and I was reciting a poem as a mantra in a foreign language. When my spiritual self became close enough to read the text over my own shoulder, I focused on the last two lines that I could see: 'To heal a wounded heart, You have to break it wide open.' This would become my personal mantra for the rest of my life.
Left: Arising Into Consciousness, Psychic Bloom Series No. I; Right:Something Out Of Nothing, Psychic Bloom Series No. II; both ink on paper, 22.9 x 30.5 cm (9 x 12 in.) "This is about the experience of rising back into consciousness after death, when the neurons of the mind twist their way back into a web to properly depict reality within the mind again. This is literally when your mind makes reality."
The Spirit Particle, As Experienced During the Dissolution Of The Body, Ink on paper, 17.8 x 17.8 cm (7 x 7 in.) "This is a phenomenon that I have experienced during deep Vipassana meditation, where my entire body dissolves and becomes an exploding field of what feel like tiny bubbles spinning around under extreme pressure. They feel like they are the particles of the body oscillating in and out of existence at trillions of vibrations a second, and they act in unison at all times. In this state they are filled with boundless energy, and they are a
beautiful to experience."
Images and text courtesy of the artist. For more information on Charles Benefiel, visit the Henry Boxer Gallery website: www.outsiderart.co.uk; Benefiel was featured in Raw Vision #30.
National Gallery of Art:Souls Grown Deep FoundationThe National Gallery of Art has acquired 40 works from
the Souls Grown Deep Foundation by 21 African American artists from the southern United States, including quilts by the artists of Gee’s Bend, painting and drawings by Thornton Dial, Nellie Mae Rowe, Henry Speller, Georgia Speller, and “Prophet” Royal Robertson, and sculptures by James “Son Ford” Thomas and Lonnie Holley.
Left: Blocks and Strips, Mary Lee Bendolph (2002).Wool, cotton, and corduroy, 248.92 x 218.44 cm (98 x 86 in.) Right: "Lazy Gal" Variation, Mary L. Bennett (2003). Corduroy, 203.2 x 198.12 cm (80 x 78 in.)
“The addition of notable works by artists from our collection to the National Gallery of Art and other leading institutions signifies their essential inclusion in the canon of art history,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, president, Souls Grown Deep Foundation and Community Partnership.
Left: A Man Can Be a Star, Thornton Dial Jr. (1988). Tin, wood, carpet, sunglasses, and industrial sealing compound on wood, 110.49 x 122.56 x 15.24 cm (43 1/2 x 48 1/4 x 6 in.) Right: Refugees Trying to Get to the United States, Thornton Dial (1988). Found wood, plastic tubing, window screen, wire, Bondo, and enamel on wood, 134.62 x 129.54 x 22.86 cm (53 x 51 x 9 in.) "Subsequent
exhibitions, educational programs, and scholarship will expose new audiences to their artistic mastery and contemporary relevance,” said Anderson.
Left: The Boneheaded Serpent at the Cross (It Wasn't Luck), Lonnie Holley (1996). Found metal, bones, and dried flowers, 53.34 x 45.72 x 22.86 cm (21 x 18 x 9 in.) Right: From the Beginning to the End to the Beginning, Lonnie Holley (1985). Sandstone, 58.42 x 30.48 x 24.13 cm (23 x 12 x 9.5 in.) For more information, visit the National Gallery of
Art's website.
Mark Beyer:New album, Radiator MusicMark Beyer has brought out an album called Radiator Music. It is available to purchase via: Track excerpts are available to listen to also, on both Bandcamp and Soundohm.
Radiator Music LP, front cover Between 1969 and 1974, and released here for the first time, acclaimed self-taught artist Mark Beyer made an experimental album that almost no one has heard. Sounding as if pots, pans, pipes and radiators are being played like a piano, in actuality the reel-to-reel tape machine is the instrument. Speeding up and slowing down these tracks, Beyer spent years down this sonic rabbit hole, a hint to his future obsessive practice.
Radiator Music LP, reverse side Mark Beyer began making drawings during the same period, releasing his first comic in 1975; the cover of this 12" LP also dates from this time. His narrative drawings have defined the “doom generation,” with Amy and Jordan one of the longest-running syndicated comic strips (1988-1996). Beyer’s animations appeared on MTV’s Liquid Television, and he illustrated posters, t-shirts and covers for John Zorn’s classic album “Spy vs. Spy.”
Mark Beyer was featured in Raw Vision #78.
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