Benjamin Cabral. Eight Self Portraits (Midnight Street Lamps), 2020. Rhinestones, faux pearls and beads on acrylic painted wood panel, 60 x 60 inches (152.4 x 152.4 cm)
Steve Turner is pleased to present Soliloquy For Past Futures, a solo exhibition by Chicago-based Benjamin Cabral that consists of a room installation reminiscent of a youth theater in which his paintings and sculpture exist as background, actor and audience. The installation is an extravaganza of color and materials: blue velvet walls, plush purple carpet, a row of theater chairs painted lavender with pink upholstery, brightly colored paintings and sculptures with undulating surfaces of glass beads, rhinestones, mirrors and faux pearls. Central in the works is a youthful, red-haired boy who is either performing, playing, ruminating or remembering. His expression is neither frown nor smile, but has something of both. According to Cabral, he is that boy, constructed from memory and invention. The works are obsessively and meticulously crafted, flamboyant and dazzling with Cabral as Liza, Bette, Judy and a character from Cats. The narrative in any given work is ambiguous, but as a whole, the installation conveys a darkness just below glitz where nostalgia and trauma intersect.
☆Donation:
Guide
Future Shock
Yayoi Kusama: I want tears to flow with the words I gave
Damien Hirst: Archaeology Now
A Bridge to the United Planet
Living as an Artist: Uncertain Life of Artists, Certain Artworks
JOHN AKOMFRAH_Vertigo Sea, Montréal
JULIAN OPIE AT LISSON GALLERY SHANGHAI
Ai Weiwei 360
MODERNA MUSEET: JOHN BALDESSARI
