Today is World Environment Day and to mark it I am thinking about a show I would go see if I didn't have to fly to get to Christchurch ... Benjamin Buchanan at 64zero3.
I'm a bit of a new-comer here: I first saw Ben's work at Gang Green in early 2007, and then at Enjoy, in a show that really surprised me (abstract art not being what I usally expect to see when I climb those venerable stairs). You can see some of the work - hidden by people - in the Enjoy social pages. He also showed with the sadly-defunct Roger Williams Contemporary, and their (usefully still live website) has a nice selection of work. I was reminded of Buchanan's work this morning, reading Peter Schjeldahl's New Yorker review of Tomma Abts' show at the New Museum, and his description of her appeal to the "post-post-painting generation".*
Call me a sucker for good old abstract art, but Buchanan is one of a number of artists - including Simon Morris, Jeena Shin and Judy Millar - who I would love to see unleashed on the great foyer space of the Tauranga Art Gallery. That I would burn carbon to visit.
Images:
Benjamin Buchanan, Untitled 2006, vinyl on board, 1000 x 1000mm
Benjamin Buchanan, installation view, Roger Williams Contemporary, 2006.
Images from the Rogers Williams Contemporary website
* I think Schjeldahl was being sarky, but I'm letting it wash over me.
