Gallery VICTOR Figurative Paintings

Nereid is a sea nymph, a female spirit of sea waters. She symbolizes everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea. Her melodious voice sing as she dances and twists on a sea ...

Ben Duke b. 1977 Louisville, KY Education 2006 M.F.A., Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD 2002 B.F.A., University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 2001 Summer School of Music and Art, Yale University, New Haven, CT Selected Exhibitions 2017 Distortion, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions: Inaugural Exhibition, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 The Suburbs Eyes: Picturing the Sprawl, (invitational), Ernestine M Raclin Gallery, Indiana University, South Bend, IN 2014 21 and Counting, The Painting Center, New York City, NY A River Without Banks, Paul Collins Art Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI The Contemporary Figure, Ben Duke and Robert McCann, Moss-Thron Gallery of Art, Fort Hays, KS 2013 Benjamin Swallow Duke and Nathan Barnes, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture, Bozeman, MT Benjamin Swallow Duke and Esther Randall, Rosewood Gallery, Kettering, OH Thresholds, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE 2012 Sublime Rupture, Target Gallery, Catalog with Essay by Dominique Nahas, Alexandria, VA 2011 Identity In Itself, Lapham Gallery, Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Center, Glens Falls, NY Benjamin Duke, Tony Shumsky, Roy G. Biv Gallery, Columbus, OH Upheaval, [traveling solo exhibition] University Art Gallery, Saginaw Valley State University, Saginaw, MI 2010 Kuandu Museum Residency Show and Open Studio, Kuandu Museum of Fine Art, Taipei, Taiwan Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, MI Art Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Upheaval, [traveling solo exhibition] Cloyde Snook Gallery, Adams State College, Alamosa, CO Floating, Fitton Art Center, Hamilton, OH 2009 Disrupted Particulars, Macomb Center for the Performing Arts, Clinton Township, MI Art Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Notwishstanding, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art), 7th Regiment Armory, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY Biennial 25, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN 2008 We Drew a Circle and Called it and Island, Garden City Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan Benjamin Duke and Teresa Dunn, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, WI Imaginary Cities, Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, IL Awakening, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2007 SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art), 7th Regiment Armory, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY Art Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Palm Beach 3, Palm Beach County Convention Center, Ann Nathan Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL Above and Beyond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Darkness: World and Culture, Caladan Gallery, Beverly, MA Baker Arts Center 10th National Juried Exhibition, Liberal, KS Nude International, Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY 2006 Launch: Graduate Thesis Show, Baltimore, MD (solo) Second Chance: Brewer’s Art, Baltimore, MD (solo) Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, MI Academy 2006, Conner Contemporary, Washington, DC. Opening Exhibition, Touchet Gallery, Baltimore, MD Only Human, School 33, Baltimore, MD Go Figure, Maryland Federation of Art, Baltimore, MD 2005 Emerging Artists, Maryland Federation of Art, Baltimore, MD real vs. Real, City Café, Baltimore, MD Artscape Art Fair, Baltimore, MD Group Show, Hoffberger Gallery, Baltimore, MD 2004 Clamor, Rose Wagner Center for the Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (solo) Boxing, Fox Gallery...

Ben Duke b. 1977 Louisville, KY Education 2006 M.F.A., Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD 2002 B.F.A., University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 2001 Summer School of...

-ARTIST STATEMENT- I depict my person in multiplicity with different selves representing dramatis personae. My likeness is both implicit and symbolic in the portrayal of my narrative; the drama involved in creating art and the artist’s role in society. I use realism to invite the viewer into mysterious inner worlds that are layered reflections of the outer. Dehumanizing environments are imbued with art historical references as a critique of power structures. The artist is an Everyman who is at odds with society and his self. Visually my work is a celebration of society’s dark undercurrents and its overlooked absurdities. I use charcoal and printmaking media as their tenebrous values add a fitting metaphor. The nuances of light and shadow seduce viewers into a world their better judgment would have them avoid. This provokes a sense of disquietude that causes viewers to assess our world through the austerity of a colorless, yet not humorless, light. -BIO- Christopher Ganz grew up in Northeast Ohio and from early on had a fertile imagination and an interest in art. Christopher's artistic education truly began at the University of Missouri, where his love of the human form led to many figure drawing classes and his exposure to the wonders of printmaking. Christopher's then went onto graduate school at Indiana University and a summer abroad program in Italy was a dream realized. Christopher then grasped charcoal with a renewed vigor and large, sfumato-laden drawings ensued. Christopher's artistic influences are many; from a seminal exposure to Dore's engravings of the Divine Comedy, to Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Goya, and up to Lucian Freud, Mark Tansey...

***This artwork is currently on exhibit at the Instituto Cervantes, Chicago until September 2025. If purchased this artwork will be available to ship after September 1, 2025. Contact the gallery with questions. This small portrait of a blonde female is exquisite in its execution. A blue replica is behind her which adds to the mystery of the painting. Why is this person here? Why is she painted in blue? Why are her eyes red and a red dot on her forehead? The painting is framed in a silver frame measuring 7.5h x 7.5w x 2d inches. Juan Barragán...

Getting out of one's comfort zone and ending the anxiety by rebuilding the lineal composition, the contrasts of color, textures and even the narrative. This happens just by throwing an impulsive stroke of red paint. While the figure is not in real danger, i.e. actually bleeding, but instead the red paint represents stepping out of one's comfort zone. It means to leave the status quo...

Seven deadly sins are the seven vices that spur other sins and further immoral behavior. First enumerated by Pope Gregory I (the Great) in the 6th century and elaborated in the 13th ...

Seven deadly sins are the seven vices that spur other sins and further immoral behavior. First enumerated by Pope Gregory I (the Great) in the 6th century and elaborated in the 13th ...