Kim Benson | HELL DAISY

HELL DAISY is 15 new paintings installed in all three gallery spaces at HAIR+NAILS. These abstract works of oil paint on canvas reveal Benson’s imagination, research, deft hand, and daily dedication over two years. Skeptical of “brush in hand” painting, Benson employs a dizzying array of tools and techniques to build up, remove, build up, remove paint en route to solving the puzzle of each canvas. Paint is squished through lace, scraped off with sanders, nudged with trowels and knives, corralled by automotive masking tape and homemade stencils. Kim’s process obsesses with disorder, decay, beauty, transformation. The trippy swirls and chunky, gooey, lacy topography of Benson’s paintings are gorgeously depicted in the video work “Molt” made in collaboration with artist Lee Noble that will premiere as part of this exhibition. The film gives a special glimpse into Kim’s South Minneapolis home studio, evidencing an artist who eats-breathes-sleeps painting.

Kim Benson’s work was previously exhibited by HAIR+NAILS at NADA INVITATIONAL in Chicago (2019), HAIR+NAILS at 9 Herkimer in Brooklyn (2019) and in RELIEF—THREE FRESH APPROACHES TO BUILDING SURFACE: Rachel Collier/Kim Benson/Sheila Wagner (2018) at the HAIR+NAILS gallery in the Corcoran Neighborhood of Minneapolis.

About the Artist:
Kim Benson currently lives in Minneapolis, MN, spending most of her time painting in her studio. She received her MFA from the University of WI-Madison and a BFA from the College of Visual Arts in Saint Paul, MN. Her paintings have been exhibited widely in both solo and group shows, including MANA Contemporary in Chicago, IL, Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, WI, Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND, Bockley Gallery and HAIR+NAILS in Minneapolis, MN and Brooklyn, NY. She has attended residencies at Adams State University in Alamosa, CO, McCanna House through the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks, ND, Jentel Foundation in Banner, WY, and Soap Factory Emerging Artist Program in Minneapolis, MN. She is an adjunct professor of art at Minneapolis College of Art & Design. Upcoming Residency planned for 2021 at La Macina di San Cresci in Tuscany, Italy.

Kim Benson is a fiscal year 2020 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Project support for this exhibition has been provided by the Visual Arts Fund, awarded to HAIR+NAILS, administered by Midway Contemporary Art with generous funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York.

Gallery Hours:
Saturdays/Sundays, 2:00 - 6:00 and by appointment through November 1.

HAIR+NAILS’ Covid-19 Safety Plan
Gallery capacity will be reduced to 10 people at a time. Masks will be required in the gallery and individually-wrapped new masks provided. Several hand-sanitizing stations and a hand-washing sink in the gallery. HAIR+NAILS gallery attendants queried for symptoms before every shift. 6-foot social distancing requested in both the gallery and the frontyard/backyard waiting areas. Individual appointments available for visitors and their companions who live with greater concern for contracting COVID-19.

Image Credit: Kim Benson, oil on canvas (detail)