Meant to function as a borderline case for painting, Guy Ben-Ari’s recent work questions its reductive, descriptive, and informative potential to convey philosophical values. Exploring elements of Post-Structuralism and Psychoanalytic Theory, his work takes jokes or visual metaphors for concepts as a starting point. Testing Lacan’s proposition, “The word kills the thing,” Ben-Ari attempts to hold off each painting’s collapse into mere illustration. Ben-Ari’s exhibition is sponsored in part by Artis – Contemporary Israeli Art Fund.

Guy Ben-Ari (born 1984 in Tel-Aviv, Israel) lives and works in New York City. He received his MFA from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Guy received his BFA with honors from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem where he received the Persser Award for Excellence in Painting. He was selected for the Exchange Program for Merit Students to study at the Slade, UCL, London.

Ben-Ari’s work has been recently shown in New York City at Thierry Goldberg Projects gallery, 6-8 Months Project Space, the Neiman Gallery and the Fisher Landau Center For Art. Ben-Ari has participated in many group shows in Israel and Europe, most recently at Barbur Gallery, Minshar Gallery and Dollinger Gallery. Ben-Ari’s work has been recently shown in Philadelphia at Vox Populi gallery. His most recent solo show was held at Hamidrasha Gallery in Tel-Aviv, March 2012.