Ben Pranger’s wall based constructions slowly grow into emergent forms. Small pieces of wood are assembled to enclose and traverse the space in front of the wall. The work follows simple rules that unfold organically; the materials circulate and loop back on themselves to establish the dimensionality of the piece. These entangled forms either open up as linear configurations in space or are condensed and layered into structures resembling stepped pyramids. These labyrinthine architectures map a recursive mental space that morphs into evolving worlds. Over the last few years, color has entered into the work, so that pattern and color, like a refrain or code, are woven throughout the piece to form a kind of constructed painting.
Ben Pranger has shown his work throughout the U.S., including recent group shows at Gallery Petite (NY), Curious Matter (NJ), Art House Gallery (NJ), Drawing Rooms (NJ), Artist-Run/ Satellite Show (Miami), Trestle Gallery (NY) and Grizzly Grizzly (PA). He has participated in artist residencies at Kohler Art/Industry, Fine Arts Work Center of Provincetown, the Marie Walsh Sharpe Studio Program, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and has received sculpture grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the New Jersey Council for Art.
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