Artist Research #4: Benji Whalen (Fiber & Craft)

Benji Whalen

Normally when I choose an artist from the list on the syllabus I research a few names that pop out at me and I pick which of their works are most appealing to me. Since this week's medium was up to us I wanted to find an artist whose work was not just visually attractive, but made me question it as well. When I first started viewing Benji Whalen's work, I was somewhat confused. He seemed to focus on two or three distinct subjects or themes in his work which had many different variations and designs. A large number of his works are cotton arms, separated at the shoulder with various tattoos embroidered on them like the one shown above. The other vast majority of his works are 3D collages which look like piles of people on top of one another, doing a variety of activities, some more vulgar than others...

Not a whole lot of information on Whalen's life is available but what is known is that he was born in New York, New York and raised in Plainfield, Vermont. He attended Columbia College where he was a Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English. After being awarded the Cadogan Scholarship, he attended and graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute with a M.F.A. in painting. He currently resides in San Francisco but has contributed and been featured in many exhibitions around the globe. 

After looking through some of Whalen's works a few more times I can't say that I understand his works any more than I did the first time through. I also noticed he had a few series of paintings of very unusual subjects. One series is of various still life images of folded blankets and sleeping bags. They are draped over objects and positioned in ways to maximize the dramatic depth of each fold and groove. Among his more popular works I was very impressed by his ability to make cotton embroideries look more solid and almost lifelike. He clearly has an interest in tattoo arm sleeves and has done an amazing job making the sew job look like ink on human skin. He also has quite an interest in the absurd which can be seen in his 3D collages. Like I mentioned earlier, they tend to be piles of figures who are all unrelated and are all engaged in their own activities. The figures are depicted as almost gruesome, animalistic creatures who are stepping over each other to get to their goals.