Bad Lights, Benjamin Edmiston’s latest suite of abstract paintings, is born of collage. Cutting, tearing and otherwise manipulating various papers, the artist constructs compositions by moving disparate elements around on the canvas. Instead of then gluing these to the surface, however, Edmiston reproduces his ‘paper sketches’ in paint. Featuring a combination of thick gobs of oil paint, swaths of flat color, and unpainted areas of canvas, Edmiston’s works bring a studied intentionality to the raw aesthetic and casual spirit of collage.
Benjamin Edmiston is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. He received his BFA from Tyler School of Art in 2003 and his MFA from Brooklyn College in 2012. Over the summer, Edmiston was an artist in residence at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada. His work was also exhibited at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design this year. Edmiston has recently been published in ‘The Art of Collage’ Contemporary Collage in Modern Art.