Simple and contained, monochromatic yet garish, minimalist and easy to harp about, it’s hard to put my finger on it -let alone to describe my reaction. It’s simply fucking intriguing.
26-year-old Schlesinger possesses a unique quality not found in the stereotypical ego-driven, faux-eccentric artist that we run into all too often these days. No concern for self image, no premeditated answers, no bullshit. He doesn’t seem to be aligned with any particular style or genre either. Perhaps stylistically his art is Mondriaanesque –with less color-, or occasionally conceptual -for lack of a better word-, but what I really gathered from meeting the guy was a very playful curiosity to visual aesthetics and formation that transcends meaning. There’s a living energy in his work that is both humbling and liberating.
Thought can be barren -destructive- especially to the artist, and there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond that thought where we find inner peace, and creativity frolics in the cosmic jam that is existence. Maybe what I’m trying to say is that in trying to grasp art the artists work can become insipid and frustratingly opaque, and his is set apart from its presence. Observing his art I am reminded of a quote by Eckhart Tolle. “Give yourself completely to the act of listening. Beyond the sounds there is something greater: a sacredness that cannot be understood through thought.”
Observing his art more closely -the strokes, the groove- I could surmise that it wasn’t about technical proficiency or intellectual design, to be esoteric or to have a twist. Sometimes it’s just better to drop the fence and let the singsong-bird sing. I wonder: am I describing the artist, or his art? Refreshing. Art minus the ego…
Bennet Schlesinger’s ‘The Vertigo of Host and Guests’ exhibition showcases on Friday 2nd August 2013 at 7pm at the Deus Temple Gallery in Canggu accompanied by Free flow Plaga wine, food degustation and music to top. Who knows, you may even be lucky enough and meet the man behind the art.
