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Benjamin Passione

No Time to be Shy

January 11 – February 3, 2024

Selected Works Thumbnails
After Sunset  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

After Sunset

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Bathers In A River Of Diamonds  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Bathers In A River Of Diamonds

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Bathing In A Flowery Grove  40" x 30"  Oil On Canvas

Bathing In A Flowery Grove

40" x 30"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Birds Chirping, Sun On My Face  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Birds Chirping, Sun On My Face

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Breeding Lilacs Out Of The Dead Land  36" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Breeding Lilacs Out Of The Dead Land

36" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Cloistered In The Dark Forest  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Cloistered In The Dark Forest

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Dream Landscape Blue  40" x 50"  Oil On Canvas

Dream Landscape Blue

40" x 50"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Fires In The Rain Of A Diamond Wind  40" x 30"  Oil On Canvas

Fires In The Rain Of A Diamond Wind

40" x 30"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
In Fields Of Emerald And Steel  36" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

In Fields Of Emerald And Steel

36" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Just Beyond The Moon  30" x 40"  Oil On Canvas

Just Beyond The Moon 

30" x 40"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Lonely Landscape In Blue  42" x 60"  Oil On Canvas

Lonely Landscape In Blue

42" x 60"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Lover's Haloed Hearts  38' x 50"  Oil On Canvas

Lovers' Haloed Hearts (SOLD)

38' x 50"

Oil On Canvas

Portrait In Orange Circles  32" x 24"  Oil On Canvas

Portrait In Orange Circles (SOLD)

32" x 24"

Oil On Canvas

Rendezvous  19.5" x 37"  Oil On Canvas

Rendezvous

19.5" x 37"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Rhapsody In Purple  40" x 30"  Oil On Canvas

Rhapsody In Purple

40" x 30"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Rhapsody In Red  42" x 44"  Oil On Canvas

Rhapsody In Red

42" x 44"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Sirens Singing  42" x 52"  Oil On Canvas

Sirens Singing

42" x 52"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Soiree In Green  32.75" x 24"  Oil On Canvas

Soiree In Green

32.75" x 24"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Stirring Dull Roots With Spring Rain  36" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Stirring Dull Roots With Spring Rain

36" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Sweet Summer Breeze  15.25" x 12"  Oil On Canvas

Sweet Summer Breeze

15.25" x 12"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
The Night Before Last  30.5" x 24"  Oil On Canvas

The Night Before Last

30.5" x 24"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
The Shock Of Ice Against The Stars  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

The Shock Of Ice Against The Stars

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
Where Blue Air Bathes  46" x 54"  Oil On Canvas

Where Blue Air Bathes

46" x 54"

Oil On Canvas

Inquire
After Sunset  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

After Sunset

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Bathers In A River Of Diamonds  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Bathers In A River Of Diamonds

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Bathing In A Flowery Grove  40" x 30"  Oil On Canvas

Bathing In A Flowery Grove

40" x 30"

Oil On Canvas

Birds Chirping, Sun On My Face  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Birds Chirping, Sun On My Face

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Breeding Lilacs Out Of The Dead Land  36" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Breeding Lilacs Out Of The Dead Land

36" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Cloistered In The Dark Forest  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Cloistered In The Dark Forest

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Dream Landscape Blue  40" x 50"  Oil On Canvas

Dream Landscape Blue

40" x 50"

Oil On Canvas

Fires In The Rain Of A Diamond Wind  40" x 30"  Oil On Canvas

Fires In The Rain Of A Diamond Wind

40" x 30"

Oil On Canvas

In Fields Of Emerald And Steel  36" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

In Fields Of Emerald And Steel

36" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Just Beyond The Moon  30" x 40"  Oil On Canvas

Just Beyond The Moon 

30" x 40"

Oil On Canvas

Lonely Landscape In Blue  42" x 60"  Oil On Canvas

Lonely Landscape In Blue

42" x 60"

Oil On Canvas

Lover's Haloed Hearts  38' x 50"  Oil On Canvas

Lovers' Haloed Hearts (SOLD)

38' x 50"

Oil On Canvas

Portrait In Orange Circles  32" x 24"  Oil On Canvas

Portrait In Orange Circles (SOLD)

32" x 24"

Oil On Canvas

Rendezvous  19.5" x 37"  Oil On Canvas

Rendezvous

19.5" x 37"

Oil On Canvas

Rhapsody In Purple  40" x 30"  Oil On Canvas

Rhapsody In Purple

40" x 30"

Oil On Canvas

Rhapsody In Red  42" x 44"  Oil On Canvas

Rhapsody In Red

42" x 44"

Oil On Canvas

Sirens Singing  42" x 52"  Oil On Canvas

Sirens Singing

42" x 52"

Oil On Canvas

Soiree In Green  32.75" x 24"  Oil On Canvas

Soiree In Green

32.75" x 24"

Oil On Canvas

Stirring Dull Roots With Spring Rain  36" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

Stirring Dull Roots With Spring Rain

36" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Sweet Summer Breeze  15.25" x 12"  Oil On Canvas

Sweet Summer Breeze

15.25" x 12"

Oil On Canvas

The Night Before Last  30.5" x 24"  Oil On Canvas

The Night Before Last

30.5" x 24"

Oil On Canvas

The Shock Of Ice Against The Stars  30" x 48"  Oil On Canvas

The Shock Of Ice Against The Stars

30" x 48"

Oil On Canvas

Where Blue Air Bathes  46" x 54"  Oil On Canvas

Where Blue Air Bathes

46" x 54"

Oil On Canvas

Benjamin Passione - No Time to be Shy - Exhibitions - Gross McCleaf Gallery

Portrait In Orange Circles, 32" x 24", Oil On Canvas

Gross McCleaf Gallery is pleased to share a new body of abstract oil paintings by Benjamin Passione in No Time To Be Shy. These vibrant paintings mark Passione's continued exploration of atmospheric color fields, layered with his linear, script-like markings. These new works are larger, lighter and brighter than before and feature the emergence of spherical shapes drawn in Passione’s signature style. Passione’s poetic titles continue to offer inspiration and invite the viewer to search the scene for possible hidden imagery and underlying narratives.

Passione’s abstracts are like swirling celestial panoramas. Large swathes of blue, orange and pink become blustery skies punctuated by shapes that suggest tilted horizons, textured landscapes, or dynamic, watery pools. While the primary colors are vivid and saturated, Passione’s atmospheric environments contain a quality reminiscent of J. M. W. Turner’s works, such as Sun Setting Over a Lake (c.1840), his many storm-tossed ships at sea or his famous depiction of the burning of the British Houses of Parliament.

Atop these dynamic, Turner-esque compositions, Passione adds repetitive, curvilinear, marks and employs a variety of brushwork to communicate playful shapes, peaks and valleys. There is boyish amusement in Passione’s approach as these marks come together to suggest a group of animated figures or perhaps the chaotic movements of a grove of windswept trees.

Image Right: Portrait In Orange Circles, 32" x 24", Oil On Canvas

Passione’s inspiration harkens back to the visual concerns of early abstract artists through the shift into Surrealism. While Wassily Kandinsky’s colorful vistas from the 1910s could provide formal inspiration, Arshile Gorky’s 1940s titles mirror Passione’s with energetic, descriptive lines, seemingly freed from absurdist poetry. Passione’s script-like marks could also be interpreted as the automatic gestures of an unconscious mind, a concept valued by the 20th-century Pataphysicians, Surrealists, and Dadaists.

Passione’s paintings embrace the nonsensical as he delves ever deeper into a self-created world of whimsy. And while there is an underlying tension and seriousness in his abstract impressions, he skillfully manages to balance them with sincerity, earnest humor, self-awareness and play.

Benjamin Passione was born in Willingboro, NJ in 1987. He attended life drawing classes at the Moore College of Art & Design and then completed the Certificate program at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His works have been exhibited in group shows across the region, and this is his third solo show at Gross McCleaf Gallery. Passione lives and works in Philadelphia with his wife, fellow artist Mickayel Thurin, and their son, Maurice. Passione and Thurin were Artists in Residence of the Philadelphia Museum of Art during the summer of 2023.

Benjamin Passione - No Time to be Shy - Exhibitions - Gross McCleaf Gallery

Rhapsody In Red, 42" x 44", Oil On Canvas

January 11 - February 3, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 13, 1 - 4 pm