September 20 2022 (Cariño), 2023, ink on chromatography paper soaked in Claritin solution, 4.3 x 5.5 inches
December 27 2022 (Día Nublado), 2023, ink on chromatography paper soaked in Paxlovid solution, 4.3 x 5.5 inches
Installation View, Ben Weiner: Diary at Hunted Projects, Edinburg, Scotland
July 20 2023 (Red Cascade), 2023, ink and watercolour on chromatography paper soaked in Marijuana/Kombucha solution, 4.3 x 5.5 inches
April 13 2023 (Orange Swell), 2023, ink on chromatography paper soaked in Tylenol/vodka solution, 4.3 x 5.5 inches
January 3 2020 (Pink Cloud), 2023, ink on chromatography paper soaked in Marijuana solution, 4.3 x 5.5 inches
Installation View, Ben Weiner: Diary at Hunted Projects, Edinburg, Scotland
July 3 2005 (Madrugada Azul), 2023, ink on chromatography paper soaked in Vicodin solution, 4.3 x 5.5 inches
July 15 2005 (Green Shade), 2023, ink on chromatography paper soaked in Vicodin solution, 4.3 x 5.5 inches
March 31 2019, 2023, ink on chromatography paper soaked in Mezcal solution, 4.3 x 5.5 inches
Nocturne (March 16 2022), 2023, ink and watercolor on chromatography paper soaked in vodka solution, 4.3 x 5.5 inches
Installation View
BEN WEINER: DIARY AT HUNTED PROJECTS, EDINBURG, SCOTLAND
Hunted Projects is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new drawings by Ben Weiner (b.1980). Diary is Weiner’s first solo presentation with Hunted Projects.
By using products from my daily routines— such as medications and cosmetics— as my media, I map out a picture of myself as the sum of my habits. My paintings and drawings address contemporary culture’s obsession with bodily enhancement through chemical products, whether by consuming energy drinks or taking illegal drugs.
In my current series of “Diary” drawings, I soak ink-coated chromatography paper in solutions of drugs, creating colorful psychedelic washes based on the substance’s chemical composition. I use substances left from my own daily consumption, so that the drawings constitute a diary of my mental states (inspired by the “drug diaries” doctors encourage patients to keep during clinical trials). My drugs range from the psychedelic, to the addictive, to the mundane, including Marijuana, Paxlovid, MDMA, Codeine, Oxycontin, Kombucha, Advil, and Vodka. Each of these drugs releases a unique spectrum of colors from the ink, enhancing the marks I made on the paper. I consider this process to be a material embodiment of altered perception. By harnessing it, I have developed a signature language of hazy fields permeated by blips and striations, all resulting from my dipping and soaking the paper in my customized tinctures. My approach expands Clement Greenberg’s concept that an artwork tells the story of its own making to include not only my art-making process, but also my chemical consumption and state of mind. The series addresses the shifting cultural/legal status of drugs, and post-Covid anxieties surrounding mortality and mental health, issues that I understand well coming from a family of medical professionals. In my titles, I use a mixture of Spanish and English, reflecting the influence of my mixed ethnic background upon my practice of material translation, all of which informs my creation of works that assert formalism’s relation to the personal.
Ben Weiner, 2023