Ben Grant and Richard Taylor

Featured in CHROMA EXHIBITION through April 13th

Ben Grant

Galvanized by iconic Hindu and Western religious paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries, Wisconsin artist Ben Grant combines an interest in commercial painting techniques with the visual reinvestigation of ubiquitous cultural signifiers. Just as the painters of the original masterworks who attempted to instill their sense of style and feeling into worn representations, Grant brings his preoccupations to bear in new, hybrid icons.

Grant leaves his work "Untitled" as he does not want to impose any personal meaning on the work of art, instead, he invites you to enter the painting on your terms and make connections based on your life experiences, beliefs, and outlook.

Ben Grant is an abstract painter based in Milwaukee. He received a BFA from The Cooper Union in New York City and an MFA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I’m influenced heavily by the florid, pop-sugar renditions of Hindu deities. The representation of each deity is so unique that they can be easily identified by their compositions, colors, and form.

-Ben Grant

I recreate 16th and 17th-century Renaissance masterworks implementing my sense of style. By combining my more fanciful glimpses into Hindu iconography with the psychedelic and sometimes disquieting world of the bold, graphic style of contemporary American sign painting, I hope to develop my visual canon for the representation of these newly transformed icons.

-Ben Grant

To see all of Ben Grant’s available work, please click here

Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor unites painting and sculpture using three-dimensional metal forms as canvases for painted finishes.  Fleeting images of people, architecture, and signage, along with fragments of words and numbers are fused into souvenirs of the experiences and characters Taylor has encountered throughout his life.

Wisconsin has been Richard Taylor’s home since childhood. He earned both a BA in Art History and an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  His monumental sculptures are in private collections throughout the United States, including a multitude of hospitals, The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, IL, Rockwell International, WI, and Hewlett-Packard, CA.

Music plays an important part in my life, and you will find echoes of it in my artwork. The rhythms, harmonics, syncopations, and dissonances of jazz and classical music are evident in the shapes, textures, and compositions I produce in my practice.

-Richard Taylor

Much of my work is somewhere between painting and sculpture and created in series. Some of these draw upon imagery I collect from found objects. I find satisfaction in communicating with viewers on a small, intimate scale, or in changing the landscape with outdoor pieces on a larger scale.

-Richard Taylor

I choose to work as a visual artist because successfully composed visual artwork can speak to an open-minded viewer in the most profound and lasting way that rewards viewers with further discoveries after successive viewings I want a lasting impression that is both visually and emotionally absorbing. I am struck by work that holds my eye and my mind equally

-Richard Taylor

To see all of Richard Taylor’s available work, please click here