For years Cleveland art gallery director Robert Maschke has been after his friend, architect and artist Michael Benjamin, to transform his sketches into larger pieces. Finally Benjamin acquiesced with the results being his first gallery exhibition, “What Remains,” which will be on display Aug. 20 through Sept. 24 at Detroit Avenue’s 1point618gallery.
“The title of the exhibition comes about based on these glimmering images in the distance and kind of what’s left of what you don’t see all the time,” Maschke said. “He’s trying to capture that in his pieces. I think it’s very complex and it contradicts itself. So the interest of the pieces is not the same for everybody. I think you’re going to see different things from different people when you look at these pieces.”
“Like I said, they’re things you barely see. Almost like you see a time-exposed photograph where things are kind of blurred. So they are very abstract but there is a lot of order to what he’s doing,” said Maschke. “I think it’s something you don’t normally see. The work is very approachable. I think it’s very contemporary.”
While “What Remains” marks Benjamin’s debut showing as an artist, this is not the case with his work as an architect. In fact, he’s credited not only with designing Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, but creating an abstract mural of birds that adorned the interior of the facility for decades.
As far as his exhibition, in looking over a few of Benjamin’s pieces, he appears to succeed in offering a degree of verisimilitude while decidedly remaining in the abstract. In total there are 20 works in various sizes that Maschke believes fall squarely into 1point618gallery’s mission statement.
“The exhibit is for anybody that appreciates art,” Maschke said. “It’s a fine arts show, so I think this show is suited for folks who support the arts scene and different museums around town. Those are the folks who really are our client base. And we have a diverse client base, a diversity of every spectrum.”He added, “We promote and show contemporary art of highly-talented artists that are either local, regional, national and sometimes international. So our mantra I guess is we want to show art of high quality and his art is high quality. And high quality doesn’t necessarily mean it’s expensive. We want to promote the work of both established and un-established artists. They are mostly underrepresented in Northeast Ohio, so if we can present them, we’re happy to do that.”
An opening reception for “What Remains” is scheduled for 7PM on Fri 8/20 at 1point618, Gordon Square, 6421 Detroit Ave., Cleveland. The exhibit runs Aug. 20 through Sept. 24 by appointment only. Admission is free. Call 216-281-1618 or visit http://www.1point618gallery.com.
Free-lance writer John Benson spends most of his time writing for various papers throughout Northeast Ohio.
When he’s not writing about music or entertainment, he can be found coaching his two boys in basketball, football and baseball or watching movies with his lovely wife, Maria.