Benjamin Lichtenstein

Flower

Ranjang basah oleh keringatmu

dan sungguh aku katakana:

engkau belut bagiku.

Adapun maknanya:

meski kukenal segala liku tubuhmu

sukmamu luput dari genggaman.

—

The bed was wet with your sweat

and I recall having said:

you’re like an eel to me.

Which meant:

That even though I might know all the bends of your body

Your soul would still slip away from my grasp.

– excerpt from For M.G.  by W. S. Rendra.

Lichtenstein’s monochromatic images combine a mixture of painting, drawing and photography, manipulating the light-sensitive page. In this new solo exhibition, Lichtenstein constructs a series of works that portray the artist’s partner – and in doing so presents their mutual connection. Within the series there are various representations of the subject: from direct photographic reproduction; to drawing her shape in the way of ‘light drawings’ whereby line is created by means of a purpose built torch; to the redacted portraits of her naked body, in which only fragments of her form are presented for view; and photographs that contribute to the feeling felt by the artist.

Benjamin Lichtenstein graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Photography), from The Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne. Recent solo exhibitions include Paperwork, 136 Johnston Street, Melbourne, 2014; Crescent, Neospace, Melbourne, 2014; I Know You Will Be Happy Here, Utopian Slumps Project Room, Melbourne, 2013; Run, Warwick Baker, The John and Marion Frye Collection, Los Angeles, 2013 and Death Adder, Chapter House Lane, Melbourne, 2013. He has been involved in numerous group exhibitions including View From The Window, Edmund Pearce, Melbourne, 2014; Mental, Muddguts, New York City, 2014; Christina’s World, Fort Delta, Melbourne, 2014. He was a finalist in the 2013 Bowness Prize. Recent publications include an annotated photographic essay titled Living in the Present, which chronicled his experience with family and friends during the Christmas of 2014 and featured in Chart Collective’s Longer Light series. His photographic suite Cave Painting Today was developed for The Blackmail #2 offline series in 2013.