Drew Bennett

Rainbow Eucalyptus

BOZOMAG is excited to announce "Rainbow Eucalyptus", an exhibition of new paintings by Drew Bennett. This exhibition will take place at BOZOMAG's Pasadena location at 595 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 311, Pasadena CA 91101.

The show will have an opening reception on Saturday, August 26th from 12-5PM. "Rainbow Eucalyptus" will be on view thru October 7th, and will have open hours every Thursday & Friday, from 12-5PM.

Climatic moments of light radiate ecstatic stillness in a love letter to Californian ethos through Drew Bennett's "Rainbow Eucalyptus." Naturalistic ephemera draw inspiration from the namesake itself - a rare form of Eucalyptus that inhabits only the rainforest. Haze and fog of the Bay Area feel akin to the elements that permeate where this rare plant grows - a mystical microclimate that radiates sources of luminosity that Bennett immortalizes in his paintings.

Northern California's vibrant terrain has historically influenced vigorous expansion through physical excavation and psychological, creative exploration. From the Gold Rush to the Beat Generation, technological advancements to artistic movements - notably the Bay Area Figurative Painters, who incepted one of the most salient post-war movements, cementing a new perspective in painting. In the 1950's, New York's art scene, transfixed by the Gestural style of Kline and Pollock, dichotomously yet simultaneously interacted with the work of one of San Francisco's most celebrated abstract expressionists - David Park. His deviation from such paved way to an inception of blockish forms to encapsulate the bodies of water and versatile landscapes that fascinated at home. Park expressed his new process as making 'pictures' - referring to his old works of abstraction as 'paintings.

Bennett's 'pictures' too, draw upon moments of overwhelming gratitude - feelings often ascribed as "too beautiful." Vulnerable scenes from a private inner life are depicted within his fearless exploration of the overly sentimental. Such as his predecessors, Bennett's work is never solely illustrative, rather a sophisticated dialogue between post-abstraction and representational art. Indistinguishable coastal sceneries romanticize the aesthetics of the ubiquitous California lifestyle engulfed in the desire to exult and honor the beauty present in everyday life.

Bennett's unique vertical orientation also draws attention to our "hyper reality", specifically the falsification of such via our "digital selves". Compulsive photography creates a digestion of the physical world within a fictitious lens. By experiencing naturalistic beauty through the medium of an iPhone screen - we tend to, albeit absentmindedly, null the manifestation of true, intentional presence. Although the habitual reaction to visual stimuli has been forever altered by modernity, Bennett playfully challenges the viewer to "tune in and drop out" while reorienting their gaze to the corporeality thriving within the world of "Rainbow Eucalyptus.”

A special extension of Drew Bennett's exhibition will be on view at BOZO Cresthaven. On Saturday, August 26th, that location will have open hours from 12-4PM. In the coming weeks, both exhibition spaces will be open for normal office hours.

Photos by: Yubo Dong // OfPhotoStudio