One of our favorite Chilean painters, Pablo Benzo, just opened a new solo show in Berlin at KORNFELD Galerie. The latest series of works by the Santiago-born artist explores the depiction of objects, people, and landscapes in a dreamlike, distorted reality that challenges the boundaries of traditional image perception.
The paintings on display depict spaces that, in turn, contain canvases—some works in progress, others already completed. Similar to a picture within a picture (or *mise en abyme*, as seen in Vanitas representations of the 16th/17th centuries), the artist questions our position by opening multiple dimensions. We gaze from our world through his painterly world, through windows (or are they balconies and terraces?) into a landscape reminiscent of Renaissance painting. Easels are not merely depicted; they are also physically present in the gallery space. Viewers intuitively search for connections across the dimensions the artist offers us.
His still life paintings also display surreal landscapes and objects, exploring pathways of visual perception. These are abstract surfaces and forms that move softly within the image: trees with organic, almost fleshy shapes, and a sky that glows in pastel colors, emanating warmth. Benzo achieves this effect by adding highly fluorescent pigments to his muted colors, reminiscent of the vibrant rave fashion of the 90s.
The exhibition features references to well-known paintings from art history, such as the modern interpretation of “Luncheon on the Grass” by Édouard Manet, an iconic work of Impressionism. Following a Picasso version of “Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe,” Benzo reinterprets this work and titles his version “As the river widens into a pond.” The painting is a contemporary analysis with these historical avant-garde artists and raises current questions about human existence, identity, and nature. —Hans Krestel
