For the inaugural Chicago Invitational organized by New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), Reyes | Finn is pleased to present works by Detroit-based artist James Benjamin Franklin (Hotel Room 406) and Chicago-based Marie Herwald Hermann (Booth 1.5). Their work will be on view in two locations at the Chicago Athletic Association hotel from Wednesday, September 18 through Saturday, September 21, 2019.
These two artists playfully incorporate or refer to domestic objects in their work, whether that be pasting a bathmat sourced from a Detroit thrift store onto canvas or crafting a delicate ceramic sculpture that may be mistaken for a pen pot.
Reyes | Finn will present six new and recently made pieces by James Benjamin Franklin, created with blends of acrylic, fabric, sand, apoxie sculpt, glitter, and other indiscriminate materials. His unconventionally shaped canvases covered with bright, unwieldy materials and textures untether his style from traditional narrative. The choice of materials and colors are symbols of self-expression and creative freedom. These works debuted at Detroit Art Week in July for his second solo exhibition at Reyes | Finn. We are proud to present them at NADA Chicago Invitational as the second iteration of Whole in the Dust.
The gallery will simultaneously present seven new sculptures by Danish-born, Chicago-based and former Detroiter Marie Herwald Hermann. She will be making a site specific environment where the walls are covered by unfired clay fixed on canvas. This installation will entirely encompass six new wall sculptures. Hermann understands clay as a transformational material, continuously lingering on the delicate line between collapse and creation; the fixity of a given moment against the possibility of reconfigurations. The minimalist sculptures feature delicate, sometimes boldly colorful, ceramics grouped with other objects on a white floating shelf. In one piece, a rectangular piece of cloth coated in pink silicone appears to droop like a sheet of paper, seemingly held in place by a singular metal pin. In another, yellow beads hang to the right of a ceramic cup resting on a bent piece of yellow latex, drawing attention to each item’s shape, texture, and weight.