Cosmic phenomena, religious symbolism, and the stuff of desires embellish Lou Benesch’s mystical watercolor work. From a trio of blackbirds hovering over an enormous mattress on a ragged shoreline or a many-faced ram bearing bells and birds, the Paris-based artist (beforehand) attracts on the iconography of folklore, fairytales, Greek myths, and symbols of spirituality.
A Comforting Invisible, opening quickly at Hashimoto Up to date, marks the artist’s first solo present with the gallery and brings collectively a group of otherworldly illustrations that start with actuality however morph into unearthly, imaginary beings.
In usually semi-symmetric compositions, hybrid animals and distinctive interactions nod to metamorphosis and metaphysical experiences in surreal landscapes. The sides of every piece of paper have additionally darkened or light with age, emphasizing the aspect of time or—as in desires—timelessness.
Benesch explores what the gallery describes because the “existence of a second, invisible realm accessed only through the portal of dreams.” Stage-like settings, archways, and niches reveal emblems like eyes, a miniature labyrinth, the solar and moon, eggs, and a variety of geometric shapes.
Eggs, for instance, signify hope, fertility, and rebirth. Folks have revered the solar and moon since time immemorial, symbolizing duality, steadiness, and transition. Benesch provides that the addition of a maze gives a strategy to “access this universe of contemplation… with an invisible hand guiding us along the paths that we forget to see.”
A Comforting Invisible runs from November 9 to 30 in Los Angeles. Discover extra on the artist’s web site and Instagram.
