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| Florence Arnold, Equivocal, 1960. Collection of Dennis and Annie Reed |
The Jules Langsner-curated "Four Abstract Classicists" (SF MOMA and pre-LACMA, 1959) forever yoked Karl Benjamin (1925–2012) to three colleagues in West Coast hard-edge, all dudes: Lorser Feitelsen, Frederick Hammersley, and John McLaughlin. The
Claremont Lewis Museum of Art is marking the centennial of Benjamin's birth with new company. "Complications in Color" presents Benjamin alongside four contemporaries, three of them women (Florence Arnold, June Harwood, and Rachel Lachowicz).
Florence Arnold had the strongest connection to Benjamin. A late bloomer, she began painting full-time only after retiring from a long career as a music teacher (compare art teacher-turned-artist Alma Thomas). Arnold studied with Benjamin at Pomona College. Equivocal (top of post) suggests polyphony in both title and composition.
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| Karl Benjamin, #23, 1974. Beth Benjamin Collection |
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| Rachel Lachowicz, Truncated, 2005. Courtesy of Shoshana Wayne Gallery |
I don't think I've ever heard Rachel Lachowicz mentioned in the same breath with Karl Benjamin. Lachowicz is usually categorized as a feminist artist whose works in lipstick and eyeliner critique a male cohort of mid-century abstractionists. Truncated, a sculptural blob of eyeliner pans, is a work of formal beauty transcending its materials and any simplistic explications.
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| June Harwood, Blue Oyster Cult (Rock Series), 1977. Collection of the June Harwood Charitable Trust |
June Harwood is only now getting recognition as a major practitioner of hard-edge abstraction. In the 1970s and 80s she did a series of acrylic paintings inspired by rock and R & B bands.
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| Terry O'Shea, untitled, c. 1960s. Collection of Dave Tourje |
Terry O'Shea is the show's fifth wheel. He's a Finish Fetish sculptor and provocateur, perhaps best known for pitching a plastic sculpture into the La Brea tar. (LACMA had awarded him its 1966 New Talent Award but neglected to follow up on the promise of accessioning one of his works into its collection.) Here O'Shea is represented by a crystal ball and three small sculptures referencing 60s tranquilizers and psychedelia.
"Complications in Color" is curated by Seth Pringle, the museum's interim director. It runs through Nov. 16, 2025.
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| Karl Benjamin, Bud's Bike Shop, 1953. Claremont Lewis Museum of Art |
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| Karl Benjamin, Crystalization, 1959. Claremont Lewis Museum of Art |
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| Karl Benjamin, #13, 1970. Bob and Kris Jones Collection |
Comments
Artists like Benjamin (and friends) or Strachan are all technically and creatively talented enough - and there are hundreds (or thousands?) of similarly talented people out there - that the reason some of them are or aren't recognized (or singled out or ignored) comes down to what?
Strachan is originally from the Bahamas but is now based in NYC. In the past, regionalism-parochialism had a lot of influence, so a Benjamin would be shadow of a Strachan. Then immutable identity enters the equation. Strachan is racially different from Benjamin.
Since one is from the East Coast and the other is from the West Coast, familiarity may (or may not) breed contempt, while physical proximity may (or may not) breed friendliness.
3 of Benjamin's contemporaries are women. So male as opposed to female? Although in the world of arts, the name "Mary Cassatt" to me has always sounded prestigious. But too token?
A lot of gatekeepers of culture for decades have been prone to bias most affected by region, race, gender or politics? Etcetera?
How about the Lucas Museum ("treacle") versus MOCA ("even my kid can do that!")?