BEN WOLF NOAM

The artist’s painting practice consolidates organic and digital forms, introducing local plant matter to the two-dimensional space of the canvas to create finely detailed imprints of leaves and other foliage.

By recreating colour gradients and techniques evocative of digital image making, Noam further flattens the surface of his paintings, translating Photoshop tools into marks made by the artist’s hand.

Early Years

Noam was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received a Bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2009.

Ben Wolf Noam Artworks

Through his use of local plant life and organic reference material, Ben Wolf Noam physically engages with the specific locations in which he works, embedding imprints of his surroundings into his artwork.

Landscapes

In Empire of Light (2022), Noam’s first solo exhibition at The Pit in Palm Springs, the artist took the surrounding desert as his inspiration.

Employing a highly detailed application of oil paint, the photorealistic artworks from this exhibition depict trees, cacti, and rock formations within the outlines of the Joshua Tree, and culminated in a bristling cast aluminium sculpture.

Taking its name from René Magritte‘s iconic ‘L’Empire des lumières’ series, the exhibition continued Magritte’s quest to depict day and night in a single frame with, as described by Rory Mitchell for Ocula Advisory, ‘both refined precision and larger swathes of gestural brilliance’.

Foliage Paintings

While his depictions of Yucca palms and rock-strewn landscapes pay homage to the arid terrain of Southern California, Noam’s signature ‘foliage paintings’ originated on the East Coast in 2012, when he transferred vines climbing the walls of his Brooklyn home onto canvas to signify the constant battle between plant life and architecture.

For subsequent works, like LA River Painting (2015), Noam collected foliage from the Los Angeles River—a beleaguered ecosystem famously stunted by concrete—layering his cuttings onto canvases sprayed with gradients to create delicate composite images.

Columns and Architectural Forms

For 12 Months Geodesic Dome (2015), Noam created a 12-panel painting on canvas stretched over a geodesic dome, each panel representing one month in a year. In Digital Expressionism (2013), a group exhibition featuring his work at The Suzanne Geiss Company in New York, Noam transformed the gallery into a temple for the digital age with a series of large-scale, painted columns, translating the emerging vocabularies of digital image production into analogue painting and sculpture.

Performances

Noam has also held a number of performances, including Designated Driver (2014) at Night Gallery, Los Angeles and a performance at MoMA PS1, Art Basel Miami with Korakrit Arunanondchai with Boychild (2013).

Exhibitions

Ben Wolf Noam has exhibited throughout America, Europe, and the Middle East. Solo exhibitions include Empire of Light, The Pit, Palm Springs (2022); The Infinite, Galeria Mascota, Mexico City (2021); Ben Wolf Noam: New Works on Cardboard, PLAZA PLAZA, London (2017); and Rejectance, Culture Room, Brooklyn (2013).

Group exhibitions include All of a Sudden, Galeria Mascota, Aspen (2021); Anima Mundi, Manifesta, Marseille (2020); and MoMA PS1 Art Basel Miami, Performance: Ben Wolf Noam, Boychild, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Miami (2013).

Website and Instagram

Ben Wolf Noam’s website can be found here and his Instagram can be found here.

Fay Janet Jackson | Ocula | 2022