Numbers, Letters, Lines

Numbers, Letters, Lines-Exhibition Opening

Numbers, Letters, Lines at the Yashar Gallery


Numbers, Letters, Lines is a 2-person show of mixed media work by artists Jess Benston and George Panagi. Please join us for the opening!

Yashar Gallery
276 Greenpoint Ave, Bldg 8, Ground Floor, Brooklyn, NY
Friday, October 8 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Counterbalance

New work, new show:

Counterbalance

February 13 - March 20, 2010
Reception: Wednesday, March 3, 5-7pm

Westside Gallery
133/141 West 21 Street
New York, NY 10011
212.592.2145

"Counterbalance" is a joint exhibition opportunity for clients and art therapists-in-training. This show was curated by Liz DelliCarpini,internship coordinator, MPS Art Therapy Department.

The MPS Art Therapy Program is a 2-year graduate program that includes coursework in psychology, counseling, assessment techniques, and expressive modalities. A core component of the program is the required 16-hour per week internship.

Each year 1st and 2nd year students each select a client or clients at their respective internship to participate in the exhibition. The process is beneficial to both the client and the students. Clients are chosen to participate based on the perceived therapeutic benefits rendered by exhibiting one's art work in a community setting. As a students, we learn to negotiate the delicate balance of privacy and advocacy.

Client work is listed anonymously, while student work is labeled. Because of the stigma surrounding mental illness, this is a safeguard to prevent negative consequences of public disclosure. Many hours of supervision have been spent discussing the ramifications of this labeling system: who does it benefit? are we, as mental health clinicians, perpetuating the stigma of mental illness? It's a curious intersection, and what I've learned in my short time in the field is that erring on the side of the less radical is often necessary.

I was one of several students that volunteered to co-organize the exhibit. The group collaborated on ways to make the exhibit unique from previous years. We decided upon the theme, images for the postcard, and organized the work in the gallery space. As we looked at a room filled with 80+ pieces of work, creating a cohesive whole seemed like a daunting task. The work ranged from naturalistic to industrial in materials, design, and execution. Continuum and spectrum seem to lurk around every corner in these parts.

Brooklyn Art Studios

Brooklyn Art Studios

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXS2N5HVyYM

Sounds-"Knife" Grizzly Bear

New Digs, New Placement

George and I moved to a studio Greenpoint as of August. We are still settling into our space. It's not quite home yet, but we're getting there. Photos to come.

This year I am interning in the acute inpatient psychiatric unit of a city hospital. Writing a thesis and not spending as much time painting as I would like.

OPENING RECEPTION for Self Portrait, MPS Art Therapy Exhibition

SELF PORTRAIT

An exhibition of selected work by students in the MPS Art Therapy Department and the clients they work with at their internship site.

Reception
Wednesday March 4, 2009, 5-7PM
Scholarship awards will be presented at 6PM

WESTSIDE GALLERY
141 West 21 Street, New York, NY 10011
Tel. 212.592.2145

Exhibition
February 14—March 21, 2009

Gallery Hours
Monday—Friday, 9AM-7PM and Saturday, 10AM-6PM

Sponsored by the MPS Art Therapy Department and the Visual Arts Foundation.

Self Portrait, MPS Art Therapy Exhibition

"Self-Portrait"

Westside Gallery
133/141 West 21 Street
New York, NY 10011
212.592.2145
February 14 - March 21, 2009
Reception: March 4, 5-7pm

Jess Benston
Art Therapy: Self Portrait as a Crane
2009
Acrylic paint on found objects, nylon string, and cotton swabs;
approximately 12" x 23" x 13"

(3"x 3" Paint on plasticine pieces are elective special project client artwork, exhibited with explicit consent by clients and their guardians)

The Past Several Months

In September, I started the Graduate Art Therapy program at SVA. It has been a busy but wildly fulfilling few months. Over the next few days, I will post some images of my own responses to in-class or at-home directives (with the exception of the SVA client-therapist exhibition, absolutely no client artwork will appear on this page).

Crane Street Studios: Open Studios June 21 & 22

Summer Share

Some people retreat to the Hamptons, the Jersey Shore, or to Ocean City, MD for their summer getaway. Not me. This is my retreat: George and I are subletting a large studio together for 3 months this summer.

vena cava ferrum

vena cava ferrum (outside)
metal, hot glue, silver paintmarker, photographs
1999


vena cava ferrum (inside)
metal, hot glue, silver paintmarker, photographs
1999


vena cava ferrum (inside detail)
metal, hot glue, silver paintmarker, photographs
1999

Numbers Missing

Numbers Missing, 1 & 2
12" x 12" & 8" x 8" newspaper, ink, glue, canvas
2007


Numbers Missing, 1
8" x 8" newspaper, ink, glue, canvas
2007


Numbers Missing, 2
12" x 12" newspaper, ink, glue, canvas
2007

Linoleum block prints

Ischis
5" x 8", ink on vellum
2001


heart/heart
11" x 14", ink on vellum
2000


brain
11" x 14", ink on vellum
2000


heart/brain
14" x 18", ink on vellum
2000


Installation shot

Silkscreens

Sweetgum Magenta
11" x 14", 2 color process on vellum
2006


Sweetgum Orange
11" x 14", 2 color process on vellum
2006


Oxford
8" x 8", 4 color process on vellum
2006

Three drawings of an ever present figure model

Figure Study, Jack #1
18" x 24", charcoal on newsprint
1998


Figure Study, Jack #2
18" x 24", charcoal on newsprint
1998


Figure Study, Jack #3
18" x 24", graphite on vellum
1998

Florentine Triptych

Florentine Triptych, left panel
30" x 17" Tempera paint on unprimed canvas
2007


Florentine Triptych, center panel
30"x 34", Tempera paint on unprimed canvas
2007


Florentine Triptych, right panel
30" x 17" Tempera paint on unprimed canvas
2007


Florentine Triptych
30" x 17" Tempera paint on unprimed canvas
2007


During a two week intensive art therapy practicum, this piece was created in response to the Fra Angelico frescoes at San Marco.

sweetgum series, 1-3

Sweetgum #1
8" x 6", oil on canvas
2001


Sweetgum #2
64" x 48", oil on canvas
2007


Sweetgum #3 (unfinished)
64" x 48", oil on canvas
2007

These Days

Tex
12" x 12", oil on canvas
2003



Dylan
9" x 9", oil on canvas
2005



Amber
11" x 9", oil on canvas
2006



Rob
11" x 8", oil on canvas
2006



Peter
9" x 9", oil on canvas
2006



George & Me
16" x 12", oil on canvas
2003

seven