Ben Aronson: Risk and Reward    Oct 21 - Nov 27, 2010

The Tibor de Nagy Gallery is pleased to present new paintings by Ben Aronson. The exhibition marks his third with the gallery.

The paintings included in the exhibition represent the artist’s recent inquiry into the realm of finance; players such as Wall Street traders and auctioneers participate actively in the commodification of art, bringing about risks as well as rewards. Despite the apparent intimacy of the painted compositions, Mr. Aronson creates a palpable distance between subject and viewer. We look directly at traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, but they do not acknowledge us. A group of three figures huddled together in a dimly-lit restaurant seem as disengaged with one another as they are with the viewer. The works, both large and small in scale, are rigorously painted and capture the ever-changing light as it both conceals and articulates the forms of the streets and buildings, some falling into shadow.

Ben Aronson received both his B.A. and M.A. degrees in painting from Boston University. He has been the recipient of four National Academy of Design awards and has also taught graduate school seminars at Harvard University. His work has been exhibited and collected widely throughout the United States, most notably the Boston Museum of Fine Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, among others.