ben smith - amazon web services...limited edition print of 20 printed with archival inks on somerset...
TRANSCRIPT
APRIL , 2020
BEN SMITHASCENDANCY – LOVE OVER STRIFE
Shor t f i lm (1 .58 mins )
Ralph Hobbs talks about
Ben Smith’s new works(Click on image to play)
These works deal with the ancient ideas of love and strife—ideas first posited in the philosophy of Empedocles, but also pervade the music of Leonard Cohen and the sculpture of Bernini—two artists who have always been a great influence on my work.
Empedocles proposed forces he called “Love and Strife”. Love brings things together in harmony and strife separates them. These forces wax and wane in their dominance, but neither force can wholly escape the power of the other. Love and strife are not only clearly observable in human behaviour, but also throughout our relationship with the natural world. They create diversity and change and often bring joy. These paintings present love heedfully moving into a phase of ascendancy. They present wonder and communion on the rise. A sweep in the oscillation that is needed in these times.
Ben Smith April 2020
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
2020 Oil on polyester canvas
180 x 145cm
Ascendancy
2020 Oil on polyester canvas
122 x 125cm
Darkness Y ie ld ing
2020 Oil on polyester canvas
180 x 156cm
Undiv ided Love
2019 Oil on polyester canvas
103 x 73cm
Deep Ca l l s Unto Deep
Limited Edition Print of 20 Printed with archival inks on Somerset Fine Art Paper, 100% Cotton.
Hand signed and numbered by Ben Smith. 2 SIZE OPTIONS: Large: Image 85 x 73cm | Paper Size 92 x 79cm
Medium: Image 51 x 44cm| Paper Size 57 x 50cm BUY NOW at nhprints.com
Se l f C leanse
Limited Edition Print of 20 Printed with archival inks on Somerset Fine Art Paper, 100% Cotton.
Hand signed and numbered by Ben Smith. 2 SIZE OPTIONS: Large: Image 85 x 73cm | Paper Size 92 x 79cm
Medium: Image 51 x 44cm| Paper Size 57 x 50cm BUY NOW at nhprints.com
The In f luence (Leonard Cohen Conso les Nick Cave )
Artwork by Ben Smith commissioned by Nick Cave
for the exhibition “Stranger than Kindness” curated by Nick Cave Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen, Denmark
The artwork will also cover the hardcover companion book for the exhibition
Nick Cave In Love , SMH Spect rum, Apr i l 4 -5 , 2020
