Using the grain of the canvas as his guide, Bennett explores its material capabilities in unique and
innovative ways.
Myles Bennett, Cut Waves #1, 2024, Ink, Acrylic, Graphite and Colored Pencil on Canvas, 39 x 36 in
The resulting works, which incorporate ink, acrylic, graphite and colored pencil, blur the divisions between painting, drawing, textile, and sculpture, and embody a sense of space both within and beyond the two dimensional plane.
Myles Bennett, WAVES (Installation View), 2024
In several of the works on view, Bennett applies ink to both sides of the raw canvas to achieve colorful gradients—some subtle, others quite bold, depending on whether he has inked it on the recto or verso.
Myles Bennett, "Manner of Hanon #10", 2024 Ink, Acrylic, Graphite and Colored Pencil on Canvas 96 x 44 in
He then uses a small blade to remove the warp—the vertical threads of the canvas—with exacting precision, leaving only the finest threads intact.
Myles Bennett, "Manner of Hanon #10" (detail), 2024, Ink, Acrylic, Graphite and Colored Pencil on Canvas, 96 x 44 in
Bennett’s interventions to the structure of the canvas create a unique optical and perceptual experience, and call to mind a number of artistic movements; One art historical reference found in Bennett’s work is to the 18th century French landscape painter Claude-Joseph Vernet.
Myles Bennett, "Eruption (Vernet Volcano)", 2024, Graphite and colored pencil on canvas, 29 x 25 in
In "Eruption (Vernet Volcano)", 2024, Bennett transposes a composition to canvas using gossamer-thin intersecting lines of colored pencil that trace along the grain of the canvas.
Myles Bennett, "Penumbra", 2024, Graphite and colored pencil on canvas, 60 x 60 in
Bennett uses a similar technique of intersecting straight lines to create "Penumbra", 2024. The composition is bifurcated horizontally by a subtle but slightly disorienting shift in color, reminiscent of what happens in the afterimage one experiences when staring at the sun.
Myles Bennett (b. 1983, Nashville, TN, lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) received his BFA and BArch from the Rhode Island School of Design. His work has recently been exhibited at JDJ, New York in the gallery’s inaugural exhibition of its newest location in New York City. Bennett’s work has also recently been exhibited at Rutger Brandt Gallery, Rotterdam, NL, Pamela Walsh Gallery, Palo Alto, CA, and The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY among others.
