Benson Downey Wetzel
New Paintings by Erik Benson, Sean Downey and Michael Wetzel
On View September 10th - October 27th, 2020
LaMontagne gallery is pleased to present a three person show of new paintings by Erik Benson, Sean Downey and Michael Wetzel. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the gallery is open by appointment only.
Erik Benson creates process based paintings that are informed by architecture and everyday objects found in urban landscape. He received a MFA from the Rhode Island School of Art and Design and a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He studied at the Skowhegan School Painting and Sculpture. He has had solo shows at Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York, NY, Finesilver Gallery, Houston, TX, Roebling Hall, New York, NY, RARE, New York, NY and Galerie Schuster, Frankfurt, Germany and group shows throughout the United States and Europe. He is the recipient of a NYFA painting fellowship as well as a participant in the Marie Walsh Sharpe Space Program, and a McKnight Fellow.
Sean Downey received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and his MFA from Boston University. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Steven Zevitas Gallery (Boston, MA), the Times Club (Iowa City, IA) and the University of Massachusetts Lowell (Lowell, MA), and has been included in recent group exhibitions at Richard Heller Gallery (Santa Monica, CA), Abigail Ogilvy Gallery (Boston, MA), the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA (Portland, ME), the Leroy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University (New York, NY), and Park Place Gallery (Brooklyn, NY). Downey is a founding member of the curatorial collaborative kijidome, winner of the 2015 James and Audrey Foster Prize from the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. His work has been profiled in recent editions of Art Maze Magazine, New American Paintings, Maake Magazine, and the I Like Your Work Podcast. He currently lives and works in Fairfield, IA.
Michael Wetzel lives and works in New York, NY. Wetzel received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989 from State University of New York at Purchase, Purchase, NY. Wetzel is the recipient of the 2006 Deutsche Bank Fellowship, awarded jointly by Deutsche Bank Art, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, and NYFA to 6 Fellows. Wetzel has had solo exhibitions at Clementine Gallery, New York, NY; John Connelly Presents, New York, NY; Judy Ann Goldman Fine Art, Boston, MA; Kristen Lorello Gallery, New York, NY and LaMontagne Gallery, South Boston, MA. Recent group exhibitions include Life Expectancy, SSD, New York, NY; Out of Our Closet, LaMontagne Gallery, Boston, MA; Townie, Foley Gallery, New York, NY, 2010; Bordin Foundation, New York, NY, 2010; Pulp Fiction, Eleven Rivington, New York, NY, 2009; Apartment Show: If the dogs are barking, Artists Space, New York, NY, 2009; Disorganized, Museum 52, New York, NY, 2009; Painting Exhibition, Susan Hilberry Gallery, Detroit, MI, 2008; The Meaning of Life, Galleria Glance, Torino, Italy, 2008; A New High in Getting Low, ArtNews Projects, Berlin, Germany, 2008; In Exchange, Casa Triangulo, Sao Paolo, Brazil, 2008; Places, LUXE Gallery, New York, NY, 2008; Kamp K48, John Connelly Presents, New York, NY, 2006; Tempest, The Fireplace Project, East Hampton, NY, 2006; Flaming June VI, Spanierman Modern Gallery, New York, NY, 2006; Singular, Gallerie SE, Bergen, Norway, 2006; Group Exhibitions, John Connelly Presents, New York, NY, 2006; and 6 NYFA Fellows, Deutsche Bank, New York, NY, 2006.