NYAB Event - Ben Bunch “Twenty-First Century Freemasonry”

Ben Bunch “Twenty-First Century Freemasonry”

The Proposition

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The Proposition presents “Twenty-First Century Freemasonry,” a show of new works by Ben Bunch. This is his second solo show with the gallery.

Ben Bunch makes carefully handcrafted sculptures from light weight craft materials such as foam, paper and glue. These sculptures often reference real hardware and technological objects while employing the abstract languages of painting and drawing at the same time. Their surfaces vary from meticulously manicured to slapdash and gestural. His sculptures often have an invisible centrifugal and centripetal energy whether the parts swirl locked in a unifying shape, or leak through the implied boundaries and seams.

In regards to the imagery and the process Bunch says, “The works often reference technology but they are not about technology. Rather they are about the energy and focus that is concentrated in the gesture of building them up. The imagery of the pieces is more a vessel to carry a mood about these frozen and isolated objects. I want them to feel akin to idols or cult-like objects emanating an uneasy power of the inanimate.”

As highlighted by the title of the show, Freemasonry is a touchstone for this idea of power and mystery in the construction of things. In the culture of Freemasonry, simple shapes and symbols are the building blocks of the world and the code by which Masons identify each other. Their core narrative is about making order out of chaos. Bunch uses the familiar objects and codes available in the twenty-first century to create possible narratives and artificial systems for his audience. Imitating the Masonic impulse to influence and shape their environment, Bunch first creates the random chaos in his sculptures and then tames it in a convergence of anarchy and control.