Jose Bonell, Billy Al Bengston
Various Small Fires (VSF) debuted two solo exhibitions on July 1, 2023. Enjoy the art of Jose Bonell as well as the legendary artist Billy Al Bengston on view through July 29, 2023.
Some Stories by Barcelona-based, Catalonian artist Jose Bonell features new oil paintings. The artist unveils a body of work that bridges the barrier between two seemingly disconnected worlds – the imaginary and the real. In his own words, the artist renders the “contemporary closer to the oneiric and the magic in the everyday.” Additionally, Bonell’s canvases seamlessly transcend time in space. The works feature a constructing an enchanting world built upon a refined color palette and the raw materials of his mind. These include blurred memories, historical references, badly recorded dreams, literature, and fictionalized realities.
From left to right; Artwork by Jose Bonell, and Billy Al Bengston
About Jose Bonell
Jose Bonell (b. 1989, lives and works in Barcelona, Catalonia) has held solo exhibitions at Adams & Ollman Gallery, Portland, USA; La Centrale, Andrèche, France; and Rossi Contemporary, Brussels, Belgium; Lauréats du Prix Novembre à Vitry, Galerie Municipale Jean-Collet, Vitry-sur-Seine, France. Recent group exhibitions include: Midnight Hour, Scroll NYC & The Hole, New York, USA; Needful Things, Rødzlo Space, Berlin; Bonell recently took part in Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles, as well as a solo project at Feria Marte in Castellon and a group show at PM/AM in London. He is also co-director at Unica Edicions, a publisher of artist’s books and serial objects founded in 2020. H’s works are part of the Collection de la Ville in Vitry-sur-Seine as well as the Fundacja Krupa in Warsaw.
About Billy Al Bengston
Billy Al Bengston (b. 1934, Dodge City, Kansas, d. 2022, Venice Beach) moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1948. He studied painting under Richard Diebenkorn at California College of Arts, Oakland, California. Then in 1957, Bengston began showing with the legendary Ferus Gallery (founded and run by Walter Hopps, Edward Kienholz and Irving Blum) until the gallery closed in 1966.
In addition, Bengston has had major solo presentations at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the San Francisco Museum of Art; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas, and a three person retrospective with Ed Ruscha and Ed Moses at the New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut. His work is also included in a number of important permanent collections including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Chicago Art Institute, Illinois; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Bengston is represented by Venus over Manhattan, New York, and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles / Dallas / Seoul.
On view: July 1 – 29, 2023
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What: New Exhibitions
Where: Various Small Fires, 812 North Highland Avenue, LA, 90038
When: Running thru July 29, 2023
Website: https://www.vsf.la/
