Exhibition Information

			The Untitled Void opens the new year with Do That Thing (January 6th - March 5th 2023), a showcase of works by three artists much celebrated for their singularity as painters: Abe Odedina, Ruben Benjamin, and Woo Young Choi. Spanning the TUV gallery space and the TUV cafe, these works share a boldness and depth of focus in their expression of each artists’ views — and indeed, the exhibition as a whole constitutes a uniquely harmonious vista in this intersection of distinct visions and approaches. Visitors are encouraged to let their feelings roam and follow in their wake, enjoying the freedom and hopefully finding their way into the farther reaches of their own imaginations. 
The work of Abe Odedina(b.1960, Nigeria) is full of decorative colors and creative objects. With the bold images and the strong colors in the works, he paints on board rather than canvas to express the solidity — and practicality — of shop fronts or municipal murals. Odedina describes himself as a folk artist and his practice is inspired by the rich figurative and oral traditions of African art, infused with a trace of magic realism. His practice seeks to revive and deconstruct quintessential classical themes spanning from ancient Greek to Yoruba mythologies to create a charged dialogue between epochs, cultures, and peoples. He combines both historical and contemporary images to create his own language.
Ruben Benjamin(b.1994, Germany) pushes the boundaries between sculpture and painting, refracting his vision and thought through the lens of the natural world and its patterns. His works, which have a vibrant luminosity achieved by arranging and combining colors in a three-dimensional, overlapping manner, sometimes appear as if they are actually breathing. Benjamin’s background in mechanical engineering and technical skills are reflected in his impressive execution and finishes, resulting in an artistic series that feels both modern and complete.
Woo Young Choi(b.1993, Korea) works from a place of deep agony over the notion that ideas branching out from the root of the “I” must inevitably exist in the context of relationships with the other. Choi expresses this idea as a faceless “black dot,” a character that represents the artist’s thoughts — along with those of many others in modern society. Containing both the stability of belonging that comes from a uniting, intertwining crowd as well as the unavoidable sense of isolation that occurs in any relationship, the duality of the “black dot” is sure to strike a chord with anyone living in the present era. Individual yet multiple, unfamiliar yet comforting, the “black dot” speaks to us all.

(Source = The Untitled Void)