Paul Stephen Benjamin

b. 1966, Chicago
Black Abstraction 1
Black Abstraction 1

Atlanta-based multimedia artist Paul Stephen Benjamin features the color black prominently in his large-scale obsolete television installations and portraiture. His installations display images and audio from Black icons Billie Holiday, Lil Wayne, Condoleeza Rice, Beyonce, Eldridge Cleaver and Nina Simone. Focusing on the connotations of the color black in society, culture and language, Benjamin discusses the absence and presence of color. Black figures and backgrounds circulate through sounds and music by Black individuals, creating a multidimensional Black color palette that evolves with each installation. Like the television installations, Benjamin’s pictures of Black men entrance viewers. Different vantage points obscure or make visible subtle, unique features of eyes, hair, and composure. Oscillating between a portrait and a mug shot, these paintings reflect Benjamin’s personal and communal investigation of the dynamics of identity, power, and authority. With these portraits, Benjamin creates a Black narrative through the images of everyday men that create room for dialogue and contemplation.

Paul Stephen Benjamin earned a BA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his MFA from Georgia State University. In mid-2021, Benjamin exhibited an installation of stacked televisions and monitors in The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. The exhibition will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX; Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Bentonville, AR; and Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver, CO. Later in 2021, Benjamin will participate in Yesterday We Said Tomorrow, a Prospect.5 exhibition taking place throughout New Orleans, LA. Before the end of the year, he will participate in a residency in Morocco, and is slated for a solo exhibition in 2022 at Davidson College in Davidson, NC. Other exhibitions include State of the Art 2020, Crystal Bridges Museum and The Momentary, Bentonville, AR; Great Force, Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; Reinterpreting the Sound of Blackness, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA; and Black is the Color, High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

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Black Abstraction 1
Black Abstraction 1
Black Abstraction 2
Black Abstraction 2
Black Abstraction 3
Black Abstraction 3
Black Abstraction 4
Black Abstraction 4
Black Abstraction 5
Black Abstraction 5
Black Abstraction 6
Black Abstraction 6
Black Absrtaction 7
Black Absrtaction 7
Black Abstraction 8
Black Abstraction 8
Black Abstraction 9
Black Abstraction 9
Black Abstraction Sculpture
Black Abstraction Sculpture
Black Abstraction Sculpture 2 (alternate view)
Black Abstraction Sculpture 2 (alternate view)
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Black Abstraction 1
Black Abstraction 1
Benjamin Moore Space Black, Valspar Very Black and Behr Blackout paint on burlap, 102x75
2023
Black Abstraction 2
Black Abstraction 2
Valspar Very Black and Behr Black paint on burlap, 75x74
2023
Black Abstraction 3
Black Abstraction 3
Behr Black Night, PPG Elegance, Valspar Noir, Behr Pure Black paint on burlap, 75x92
2024
Black Abstraction 4
Black Abstraction 4
Behr Black Night, Behr Black Ink and Valspar Noir paint on burlap, 38.25x34.5
2024
Black Abstraction 5
Black Abstraction 5
Sherwin Williams Green Black and Benjamin Moore Black Beauty paint on burlap, 35.25x25.5
2024
Black Abstraction 6
Black Abstraction 6
Valspar Noir, Behr Black Night and Behr Black Ink paint on burlap, 32.5x28.75
2024
Black Absrtaction 7
Black Absrtaction 7
Sherwin Williams Black Swan, Valspar Noir, Behr Black Night and Behr Black Ink paint on burlap, 40x34.25
2024
Black Abstraction 8
Black Abstraction 8
Behr Black Ink, Sherwin Williams Black Swan, Valspar Noir, Behr Black Night and Sherwin Williams Green Black paint on burlap, 40x28
2024
Black Abstraction 9
Black Abstraction 9
Sherwin Williams Green Black, Benjamin Moore Black Panther, Behr Pure Black, Behr Black Night, Benjamin Moore Black Beauty, Valpsar Noir, Valspar Dark Black, Behr Jet Black, Behr Black Ink, SW Black Swan and Behr Black Night paint on burlap, 96x70
2024
Black Abstraction Sculpture
Black Abstraction Sculpture
Behr Jet Black, Benjamin Moore Black Panther, Sherwin Williams Black Swan, Sherwin Williams Green Black, Behr Black Night, Behr Black Sapphire, Behr Pure Black, Behr Totally Black, Benjamin Moore Black Beauty, Behr Black Ink, Valspar Dark Black, Valspar Noir, Ben Moore Soot, PPG Black Elegance, Benjamin Moore Space Black and PPG Black Onyx paint on burlap, 48x156x96
2024
Black Abstraction Sculpture 2 (alternate view)
Black Abstraction Sculpture 2 (alternate view)
Behr Jet Black, Benjamin Moore Black Panther, Sherwin Williams Black Swan, Sherwin Williams Green Black, Behr Black Night, Behr Black Sapphire, Behr Pure Black, Behr Totally Black, Benjamin Moore Black Beauty, Behr Black Ink, Valspar Dark Black, Valspar Noir, Ben Moore Soot, PPG Black Elegance, Benjamin Moore Space Black and PPG Black Onyx paint on burlap, 48x156x96
2024
Untitled
Untitled
digital photograph on archival paper on diabond, 36x46
2015-18
Untitled
Untitled
digital photograph on archival paper on diabond, 36x46
2015-18
Untitled
Untitled
digital photograph on archival paper on diabond, 36x46
2015-18
Untitled
Untitled
digital photograph on archival paper on diabond, 36x46
2015-18

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