Benjamin Roth in exhibition curated by Rob Smolders at Bergkerk Deventer

Now on view: Benjamin Roth in the group show ‘DOORZICHT, over transparantie in de kunst’, curated by Rob Smolders, at Bergkerk Deventer until March 22

SEEING THROUGH A PAINTING

Benjamin Roth makes paintings by cutting and sawing into sheets of drywall and then reassembling the pieces as best he can. The fact that these works are now included in an exhibition about transparency goes back to an earlier period, when he literally made transparent paintings. Square canvases of translucent cotton stretched over an aluminum frame. After treating the fabric with lacquer or varnish, he detached it from its support and mounted it onto a slightly larger frame, causing a shortage of material in the corners.

He obsessively wanted to understand what a painting actually is. Why canvas? Why stretch it with the seams at the back? Why conceal that back? What is the point of maintaining all those illusions? A work made of drywall remains recognizably drywall, sometimes retaining the green color of the moisture-resistant variety used in bathrooms. He cuts into it, joins it together, and repairs the seams. Like a plasterer would, indeed, but the plasterer conceals the work. Benjamin Roth leaves everything he does visible, he makes the entire process of making transparent and, in passing, delivers images that are incomprehensibly beautiful.

English translation of the text ‘Een schilderij doorzien’ by Rob Smolders, originally written in Dutch

Benjamin Roth
60kwadraat, 2024
primer, renoband, plaster and pigments in drywall over acrylic paint on wood
60 x 60 cm
Photo: the book photographer