News

Ben Bush's HyperGraphia at the Lucky Ju Ju Transview

September 24, 2007

" HyperGraphia "

Paintings on Wood
by Ben Bush at Lucky Ju Ju

Opening Reception
Friday October 12th, 2007 from 6:30 pm to 10:30pm
"Hypergraphia "

My work on this series of paintings was therapeutic in nature. It can be seen as representative of an intense inner conflict and a movement toward the resolution of that conflict. The conflict is between the part of me that wants to be fully alive, engaged and speaking my truth in a creative way, and that internal oppressor that insists upon mediocrity and the “safe and secure” route. Abandoning all formal concerns, I simply began making marks and drawing shapes. Because of the compulsive nature of this activity and the fact that it was for the most part devoid of conscious intention, I began thinking of it in terms of graffiti or graphomania. The interface between symbols or words and the direct experiences they are supposed to represent has always interested me. So I came up with these message-signs that beg to be read, but that are written in a language that doesn’t exist.
It may be that this series operates on two levels. On a personal level it can be seen as an articulation of frustration, stunted creativity, and failed communication. On a universal level it is my obscure critique of language itself, which always denies the truth of that to which it refers.
I had a lot of fun and released a lot of energy doing this. Forget about frames or otherwise making the work more presentable. You can always hide your mistakes behind another layer of paint. And you never finish anything.

-Ben Bush 2007

Notes from the Curator
I have to admit, I love Ben’s work primarily because of his “Screw You” attitude toward the art world as suggested by the manner in which he hangs his paintings with a nail through a hole in the work itself. I also like the alien graffiti aspect of it. I feel like I’m in a dive bar on Altair 4 and this is what is in the bathroom walls. “I’ll have another shlorpdrik, and keep ‘em comin’”. Great stuff, and it is totally in tune with the Ju Ju’s oddball perception of the world on the other side of the glass.