This fall, in the first exhibition of his work at the gallery, Benjamin Klein will present a series of abstract paintings. During the last ten years, Klein mainly showed his figurative works, but he has never stopped painting abstractions. Known for his nocturnal landscapes filled with anthropomorphic figures, with this group of recent works the artist takes a new direction, reconnecting in a highly promising way with Automatiste practices. Seeking a level of truth devoid of both irony and naïveté, Klein has made it his mission to evoke the mysteries of painting. 

Art critic Meeka Walsh says of his work: "I’ve looked at Benjamin Klein’s work for a number of years and I trust it. His paintings have that out-of-mode quality of being earnest, being honest and genuine, such that they almost vibrate with it. That tremour is a remarkable thing. What I respond to in the work is his being receptive to something transcendent, other-wordly; he understands the necessity to dream." 

Illustration : Benjamin Klein, Papillon, 2022, Oil on canvas

Biography

Benjamin Klein was born in Chicago and grew up in Montreal. He works both in Montreal and Brooklyn, NY. Klein's landscape paintings depict a colourful and ambiguous world of uncertain proportions, psychology and materiality. His world is populated by anthropomorphized, animal-like characters that interact and metamorphose in fragmented scenes, filled with semiotic and symbolic potential. Incorporating many ideas and influences, his more recent series of abstract paintings explore a range of approaches to creating a compelling and energetic, personal formal language.

He holds a BFA from Concordia University (Montreal, 2005) where he graduated with great distinction and was awarded the Guido Molinari prize in Studio Arts. He completed his MFA in Studio Arts at the University of Guelph (Ontario, 2013). In 2010, Benjamin Klein was a finalist in the RBC Canadian Painting Competition.