James Benjamin Franklin
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James Benjamin Franklin
Images
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Biography
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CV
Born in Tacoma, WA, James Benjamin Franklin received his BFA from Art Center College of Design in 1999. In 2017, he received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Franklin currently lives and works in Detroit, MI, and his artistic influences include Shirley Jaffe, Thornton Dial, Richard Diebenkorn, Alexander Calder and Agnes Martin among others. Recent exhibitions include Practice, Reyes | Finn, Detroit, MI, A Layered Approach at Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY, Whole in the Dust at Reyes | Finn, Detroit, MI and FRONT International, The Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH.
Recent Exhibitions:
Full Circle, Cranbrook Art Museum
Press:
EDUCATION
2019
The Lighthouse Works, Fishers Island, NY
2017
MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
1999
BFA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadenca, CA
1995
New York Studio School of PAinting and Sculpture, New York, NY
1994
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Full Circle, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Practice, Reyes | Finn, Detroit, MI
2021
A Layered Approach, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Lexington, KY
2019
Whole in the Dust, Reyes | Finn, Detroit, MI
NADA Chicago Invitational, Reyes | Finn, Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, Chicago, IL
2018
NADA New York, Reyes Projects, New York, NY
2017
Suspect Sentence, Reyes Projects, Birmingham, MI
2013
On the Other Hand, COOP Gallery, Nashville, TN
2010
Getting There From Here, KRETS, Malmo, Sweden
2008
Sub-Tippy (North Gallery), Clemintine, New York, NY
2007
New Paintings, Mogadishni International Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, DE
2006
Ignoring the Signs, Clemintine, New York, NY
New Paintings (East Gallery), Acuna-Hansen, Los Angeles, CA
2004
Plants and Animals, Acuna-Hansen, Los Angeles, CA
General Store, Milwaukee, WI
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
It Takes a Village, Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI
Beyond the Black Hole, The Pit, Palm Springs, CA
Thrift Store Find, Andrew Rafacz, Chicago, IL, Melissa Brown curator
Independent, Reyes | Finn, Detroit, MI
Dallas Art Fair, Broadway Gallery, New York, NY
SALON redux, David Klein Gallery, Detroit, MI
Zona Maco, Proyectos Monclova, CDMX, Mexico
Felix Art Fair, Broadway Gallery, New York, NY
2021
With Eyes Opened: Cranbrook Academy of Art since 1932, Cranbrook Museum of Art, Birmingham, MI
Grouper, Broadway Gallery, New York, NY
2020
NADA Miami 2020, Online presentation and in-person, Reyes | Finn, Detroit, MI
Art Mile Detroit, Reyes | Finn, Detroit, MI
Independent New York, Reyes | Finn, New York, NY
2019
MECA Art Fair, Reyes | Finn, San Juan, PR
Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue, PROYECTOSMONCLOVA, Mexico City, Mexico
Useless Utility, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, MI, Jova Lynne curator
Independent New York, Reyes | Finn, New York, NY
2018
HOMEMADE, Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI, McArthur Binion curator
Seven Samurai, Platform Project Space, Brooklyn, NY, Phil and Sue Knoll curators
Paradise, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Edgar Bryan and Adrianne Rubenstein curators
Front International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, OH. Michelle Grabner and Lisa Kurzner curators
Chromalicious, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA, Phil and Sue Knoll curators
McArthur Binion Curates in Detroit, Hill Gallery, Birmingham, MI, McArthur Binion curator
Geometrix, Galerie Camille, Detroit, MI, Leah Cohen curator
2017
Something Green, Reyes Projects, Birmingham, MI
Brave New Work, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA, Phil and Sue Knoll curators
2016
Solar Vortex, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA, Phil and Sue Knoll curators
Goulding the Lolly, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, NY, Brian Belott curator
2015
Remains To Be Seen, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA, Phil and Sue Knoll curators
Oysters With Lemon, Ventana244, Brooklyn, NY, Michael Zahn curator
Melted City, Blanc Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines, Jordin Isip and Louie Cordero curators
2014
The Age of Small Things, Dodge Gallery, New York, NY. Chuck Webster curator
2013
Beach Painting Club, silent auction to benefit Smallwater, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY, Hosted by Scott and Tyson Reeder, and New Art Dealers Alliance
Paperazzi 2, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Draw Gym, 247365 & KnowMoreGames, Brooklyn, NY, Brian Belott curator
Milwaukeeists: 1996-2006, UW-Green Bay Lawton Gallery, Green Bay, WI, Nicholas Frank curator
2012
Permanent Collection, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY, Edward del Rosario and Jordin Isip curators
FAKES, Tomato House, Brooklyn, NY Paperazzi, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Janet Kurnatowski curator
2011
Coming and Going: Work from the Collection of Peter Kang, New York Center for Art and Media Studies, New York, NY, Donald Johnson-Montenegro curator
Permanent Collection, Regina Rex, Brooklyn, NY Interior Loot, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, Peter Barrickman curator
Leisureland, Maloney Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
Summer Salt, The Proposition, New York, NY, Ingrid Dinter curator
(Darling) You Send Me..., b9 galerie, Vienna, Austria, Julie Ryan curator
Spaghetti and Beachballs, Studio D'Arte Raffaelli, Trento, Italy (cat.)
This is Water, Michael Rosenthal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Open Daybook, LACE, Los Angeles, CA, David P. Earle curator
2010
Casheesh Four, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
FIAC Art Fair, Paris, France, Galerie Zürcher
Knock Knock, Needles and Pens, San Francisco, CA
Strategic Abstraction, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Consider The Oyster, James Graham & Sons, New York, NY, Ingrid Dinter curator
Singles, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Happily Unhappy, Blanc Compound, Mandaluyong, Philippines, Jordin Isip and Louie Cordero curators
2009
Mutant Anxiety, Michael Rosenthal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Wild Feature II, Galerie Zürcher, Paris, France, Brian Belott curator
Casheesh Two, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Wild Feature, Studio Zürcher, New York, NY, Brian Belott curator
About Face, Rio Hondo College Art Gallery, Whittier, CA, Chris Acuna curator
2008
Presents, Rowley Kennerk Gallery, Chicago, IL
2007
In Full Cry, New Image Art Gallery, Los Angeles, LA, Matt Leines and Taylor McKimens curators
Wu-Tang / Googleplex, Gavin Brown’s Passerby, New York, NY, Darren Bader curator
Phantasmania, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, Elizabeth Dunbar curator (cat.)
Poets on Painters, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, Katie Geha curator (cat.)
Crystal Crunch, Perugi Artecontemporanea, Padova, Italy, Taylor McKimens curator
2006
Go Figure, Mogadisni International Contemporary ARt, Aarhus Denmark
2005
Mystery Meat, Future Prospects Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines, Jordin Isip curator
Let The Players Play, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Move #13, Clementine, New York, NY, Rich Jacobs curator Can't See The Forest,
Sixspace, Los Angeles, CA
2004
Under the Influence, Junc Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Taste Like Chicken, Geoffrey
Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
Chicago Art Exposition International Invitational, Chicago, IL, Acuna-Hansen Stray
Show Art Fair, Chicago, IL,
Drunk vs. Stoned, Gavin Brown's enterprise at Passerby, New York, NY, General Store curator
Fresh Squeezed, Acuna-Hansen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003
Scope, Miami, FL, Acuna-Hansen Gallery, Stray Show Art Fair, Chicago, IL
Paintingshow, Austria Art Studio, Chicago, IL
2002
Stray Show Art Fair, Chicago, IL, Daniel Reich
Milhaus, Deluxe Projects, Chicago, IL
1999
Factory Reject, Ross Farrell Gallery, Pasadena, CA, Taylor McKimens curator
Raw Seeing: Celebrating a Decade of Alumni Exhibitions 1988-1998, New York Studio
School, NY
1998
Ways and Means, Miller Durazo Gallery, Los Angeles, CA The Experimenters, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New York, NY, Kenny Schachter curator
1987-1997 A Skowhegan Decade, David Beitzel Gallery, New York, NY
1996
Texas Meets New York: Facing the Millennium,” the song remains the same...", Arlington Museum of Art, TX, Kenny Schachter curator
1994
10 X 10, Art Initiatives Gallery, New York, NY
MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Davis Museum at Wellesley College, MA
Speed Art Museum, KY
KMAC Museum, KY
NOTABLE COLLECTIONS
Google Ventures, NY
The Progressive Art Collection, OH
JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, NY
Art in Embassies (AIE), U.S. Department of State
Columbus Metropolitan Library, OH
AWARDS
1994
Skowhegan Fellowship