AHN|VHS is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new large-scale works by Arden Bendler Browning. The Philadelphia based artist takes her influence from the city's “dichotomous landscape”. Interweaving imagery of architectural decay and rampant flora, her dynamic compositions emulate the violence and euphoria embedded in the city itself. Bold colors and sharp gestural lines whirl together creating a delicate balance of utter chaos and control. Incorporating the physical elements of construction / destruction sites, these epic works are painted and drawn on Tyvek.
Reflecting on the timeless tensions between the built environment and the natural world, these works depict the point of climax in the battle between the two; snapshots of the decisive moment in the most profound conflict, where every line between destruction and creation is blurred.
Bendler Browning says she is attracted to cities for their “density, activity, variety, their layered contradictions... the opposite of the picturesque landscape.” Taking inspiration from her immediate urban environment, Bendler Browning spends much of her time taking countless snapshots of the city, capturing the myriad “visual hypocrisies” discovered along these daily explorations. “A silhouette of a blue tarp can become a vibrant colored square rather than mundane construction material; highlighted chips of wall paint from an upturned building add energy rather than depicting gloom.” There is no assigned protagonist or villain here. By highlighting the contradictions inherent in the urban landscape these works evoke the grace and vulgarity of all things contained therein; man-made or organic, both forces hold the potential for good and evil, and both are simultaneously neither/nor. Bendler Browning's images are a lens through which we may watch this puzzle unfold.
Arden Bendler Browning received her MFA from the Tyler School School of Art in 2003. Her work was featured in the 2009 edition of New American Paintings. Recent solo exhibitions include “Solo Series 2009” at the Abington Art Center in Jenkintown, PA, curated by Sue Spaid, and “Urban Reef” at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia, curated by Sean Stoops. Her work has also been included in exhibitions at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, and Fleisher Ollman Gallery.
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