1708 Gallery is pleased to present Potential Images. Curated by Emily Smith, Executive Director of 1708, Potential Images surveys current practices in contemporary painting, from a DIY aesthetic to an interest in new media. Featuring Ivin Ballen, Guy Ben-Ari, Michael DeLucia, Michael Dotson, Brendan Smith and Maria Walker, the works in Potential Images demonstrate both an embrace of the quiet and handmade and an awareness of the neo-baroque and the sublime. Underlying much of the work is an awareness of the history of painting and the theories and arguments that have accompanied this story. 

1708 Gallery will host a preview on Thursday, May 3, with a Curator’s talk at 6:30.  There will also be an opening reception on Friday, May 4, 2012. Potential Images will be on view through Saturday, June 16.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Born in Philadelphia, Ivin Ballen received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy. He has participated in group exhibitions at Tanya Bonakdar in New York, Regina Rex Gallery, Allegra La Viola, and has had two solo shows at Winkleman Gallery.  His work has been reviewed in Artforum, the Brooklyn Rail, the Village Voice, Art Review and featured in Surface Magazine.

Guy Ben-Ari was born in Israel, and currently lives and works in New York City. He received his MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University’s School of the Arts in 2011, and his BFA (with honors) from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem in 2009. Ben-Ari’s work has been recently shown in New York City at Thierry Goldberg Projects, 6-8 Months Project Space, the Neiman Gallery and the Fisher Landau Center for Art. For more information on Guy Ben-Ari please visit www.guybenari.com.

Michael DeLucia received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001 and his MFA from the Royal College of Art, London, in 2004. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world. DeLucia is from Rochester, New York and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. For more information on Michael DeLucia please visit www.michaeldelucia.com.

Michael Dotson currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He studied painting at the Cleveland Institute of Art where he received a BFA in 2006, and recently received his MFA from the American University in Washington, DC. Dotson has participated in various group exhibitions throughout the US. For more information on Michael Dotson please visit www.michael-dotson.com.

Brendan Smith received his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and his MFA from Yale School of Art. Recent exhibitions include Soda Pop: Effervescence and Abstraction Number35 Gallery, NY; Group Show, Primetime, Brooklyn, NY; Irregardless, Temporary Gallery, New York, NY; and Potluck III: Commodity, Postcrypt Gallery, NY. For more information on Brendan Smith please visit www.brendan-smith.com.

Maria Walker received a BA in Visual Art from Brown University and an MFA from Tyler School of Art. Walker attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2011. Walker has exhibited widely including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Her work has been reviewed in ArtPulse and NY Arts Magazine. For more information on Maria Walker please visit http://mariawalker.wordpress.com/