“2020” Exhibition

Thierry Goldberg

This event has ended.

Thierry Goldberg presents 2020, a group show featuring works by Kelly Beeman, Yael Ben-Simon, Austin Eddy, John Rivas, Jessica Westhafer, and Mark Yang.

Somehow simultaneously alien and familiar, the paintings of Kelly Beeman trace the goings on of her female protagonists. Amid their relaxed domestic interiors or casual outdoor explorations, her figures unabashedly stare down the viewer. There is a warmth to their world and a cold comfort in feeling allowed to witness it. In an equally immersive approach,

Jessica Westhafer depicts scenes from her own life, rendered here in an overtly graphic and exaggerated style. These scenes, while cut with subtle humor of a specific detail—a fingernail filing, a galactic legging—hold an introspective weightiness. Characters pause in a down storm to contemplate their reflection. Even a straight-on gaze seems to turn the canvas into a two-way mirror. Eyes meet, but there’s of course more there.

Mark Yang turns the trope of the classical nude on its head, sometimes literally, with his strikingly colorful paintings. Wrestling with historical precedent as well as each other, Yang’s characters create compelling knots of limbs, each delicately considered. Playful but composed, geometrical but organic, symmetrical but inexact.

Austin Eddy’s paintings operate in a constant state of contradiction. Here, staid equestrians are depicted with a comical tone, with rider and beast distilled to essential forms, and a stable becomes anything but.

John Rivas adorns his paintings with objects from the past, though they’re often his own, pulled from childhood. Representing both his personal history as well as that of his family, Rivas’ paintings pull one in with expressive brushstrokes and intricate collages.

Yael Ben-Simon looks to the past for referents, pulling example imagery to the present day moment. Archival prints and ancient sculptures are juxtaposed with contemporary artifacts, rendered in illusory manners, and situated in boxes to be unpacked.

Kelly Beeman (b. 1983, Oklahoma City, OK) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a BA from Hunter college, New York. She has had a solo exhibition at The Void, Los Angeles, CA and was previously included in “A Scratch in Time” at Thierry Goldberg.

Yael Ben-Simon (b. 1985, Afula, Israel) is a Brooklyn-based painter with an MFA From School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem. Most recently, Ben-Simon has exhibited at Geary Contemporary (New York, NY), Rata Projects (Brooklyn), Wassaic Project (NY), Soo Visual Arts Center (MN), Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (Queens), and Hyde Park Art Center (IL). Artist Residencies include the Studios at MASS MoCA (MA), Wassaic Project (NY), Vermont Studio Center (VT), Pilotenkueche (Germany), and SIM Residency (Iceland). Ben-Simon’s work has been featured in publications including New American Paintings and Young Space.

Austin Eddy (b. 1986, Boston, MA) earned a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009. Exhibiting internationally, his solo shows since 2012 include Launch F-18 Gallery, New York, New York; Roberto Paradise, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Christian Berst, New York, New York; Bendixen Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark; The Horticultural Society, New York, New York; the University of Kentucky Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky; Important Projects, Oakland, California; Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas, and most recently, Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York, New York. He participated in group shows, including The Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Museum Of Contemporary Art, Atlanta, Georgia; The New Hampshire Institute of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire; Adams And Ollman, Portland, Oregon; Coburn Projects, London, United Kindgom; Brand New Gallery; Milan, Italy; Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm, Sweden; Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark; as well as a two-person exhibition at Denny Gallery in New York, New York.

John Rivas (b. 1997, Newark, NJ) lives and works in New York, NY. He holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY and is currently an MFA candidate at Columbia University. His work was previously exhibited at Ross and Kramer gallery, New York , NY; LatchKey Gallery, New York, NY; The Pfizer Building, Brooklyn, NY and The Children’s Museum, New York, NY.

Jessica Westhafer (b. 1990, Fayetteville, AR) lives and works in Bloomington, IN. She is currently pursuing an MFA at Indiana University-Bloomington, and received her BFA from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. She has been in group exhibitions at STORY Gallery at Grace Point (Bentonville, AR), Lala Land Studio (Fayetteville, AR), and East Center Studios (Fayetteville, AR).

Mark Yang (b. 1994, Seoul, South Korea) lives and works in New York, NY. He holds a BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and is currently an MFA candidate at Columbia University. He has participated in exhibitions at Ki Smith Gallery (New York, NY), Leimin Space Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), and CP Project Space (New York, NY), among others.