The Artist: Ben Zank
Unorthodoxy thrives in the suburban streets turned theatrestage by Ben Zank. The suited and booted protagonist is found contorted in and around the surfaces of suburban lives that 99.999% of the rest of the residents have never considered, let alone attempted. That is what makes Zank’s work sizzle. We are forced to ask ourselves ‘what is happening here?’ Tans, yellows, oranges and pine green are a recurring palette across many of Zank’s work.
"Nothing to see here."
The Collection: Urban Anomalies
A buttoned down blazer wrapped around a barrier arm, a man with his head in the nest of sticks and a reverse plunge into an ice pool where a smattering of street bricks are yet to find the final destination. There is little movement conveyed, in each work we are seeing the timeless quality of absurdism. Strange street poses give the viewer comfort that at least our lives are not that far gone…or are they? Have you been Zanked?
A Specific Artwork: Read Between the Lines
The tan blinds, the ochre long sleeved shirt, the peach trousers and the canary yellow lines lead the view from head to toe and back again. What to make of what is being said here? The main subject is trying so hard to read between the lines, the book glued to his face, he misses the bigger picture. In the meantime, has he been steamrolled by the continuing double yellow lines of suburban progress, squashed in its sticky paste. In any event, this 112 edition artwork leaves the viewer somewhere between a Pink Floyd album cover and a bottle of scotch whiskey.
