In the Studio with Trudy Benson
I was never a big fan of abstractionism. But this has been a year where I have been completely swept by abstractionists and Trudy Benson has been, in part, responsible for that. Trudy is a young rising star whose inspiration comes from the time she was a child and grew up surrounded by computers and Mac screens. But she isn't working with digital media, she’s a phenomenal painter who layer-upon-layer of acrylic, oil, flashe, enamel and spray paint achieves the almost impossible feat to deeply move me with abstract compositions saturated in bold colors.
Benson, who is still in her 20s, has already been reviewed by The New York Times and Artforum, gotten three solo shows counting one with the Horton Gallery (one of my favorite New York galleries) and participated in many group exhibitions including "Windows" a alongside other artists of her generation like Michael Dotson who I featured previously here.
Besides being warm and fun, Trudy is prolifically painting and creating wonderful canvases that achieve an almost sculptural nature and are visually compelling, the kind of art people want to collect and live with. As if she were to be aware that she does no good by depriving the world from seeing her pieces, Trudy keeps happily working in several pieces at the same time so as to please herself and her fans. In her ample and bright studio, a bunch of fascinating canvases are neatly stored while Trudy, straightforward and down-to-earth, no diva-like behaviors (so common nowadays) makes us feel as if we were long-time friends. She is the kind of artist that I like to support not only because she’s an amazing person but because her work is remarkably good. This month, Trudy is participating in Merge Visible, a group show at the Horton Gallery that will run until January 26.
