Benjamin Ewing, INVENTORY
August 8 - August 28, 2025
One Grand Gallery is pleased to be working with Ewing again for this three week pop-up exhibition that references his 2023 solo exhibition with the gallery, When We Met.
This new work speaks to the ongoing backstory in creating his solo with the desire to create a sculpture that is accessible to a larger public. INVENTORY tracks this two year journey while unveiling the intricacies of art-making while navigating an ever-shifting art market. “Clasp” (2023) was originally sculpted of aerated autoclaved concrete at its final size of 12 x 23 x 8”. The 100 reproductions currently on display in the gallery were shrunk down to 3.5 x 2.25 x 7.25” in an effort to both create a formidable visual scene when displayed all together and remove the financial barrier to purchasing artwork. “Clasp” original sculpture sold for $3,800 and these plaster reproductions are priced at $125 as a result of the labor and hours of a large group of people. Benjamin Ewing as artist, as well as Jesse Kamerzell, stonemason, was brought on to manage the casting; Steve Christman and his team at Form 3D Foundry managed the 3D scans and mold making; Jim Calgano and team at Calgano Foundry for the single bronze reproduction; Javier Montes d’Arce managed the documentary; and Luiza and Jordan and interns at One Grand Gallery for managing the exhibition. The single original sculpture gave room to facilitate the grand scale of this auxiliary endeavor, one which explores the relationship between what it takes to create and exist within the machine of art economics.
INVENTORY is an interactive exhibition wherein viewers are encouraged to purchase and collect their piece the day of. These transactions will be documented and showcase the physical edition of the work incrementally disappearing over the course of the show. As such, now 101 individuals can own a piece of work inspired by a single sculpture.
Benjamin Ewing is a multidisciplinary artist located in Portland, Oregon. With a background in editorial photography and print design, his transition into painting and sculpture is rooted in the same visual principles. He continues to sift these concepts through new mediums. In the attempt to better understand the power of materials and the way in which they can inform one another. Ultimately, providing a language in which we may better understand ourselves.
@benjamin.ewing
benjaminewing.com
Contact luiza@onegrandgallery.com for all sales inquiries
Benjamin Ewing, When We Met
May 26 - June 30, 2023
When We Met opens at One Grand Gallery on May 26th, welcoming painter and sculptor Benjamin Ewing for his first exhibition with the gallery. This new body of work marries Ewing’s sculptural practice to his polished oil paintings for an oeuvre that contemplates origin, relativity, and interconnectedness.
In consideration of how the artist ultimately comes to be removed from their final work, so does When We Met invite viewers to extend their own language to these pieces and contextualize them within a familiar understanding. Abstract, hand-chiseled figures and soft planar undulations rendered in oil morph into recognizable figures such as two hands coming together, or a breathtaking horizon at the sun’s moment of departure. The suite of works freezes time with the desire to encourage kinship, both internal and external.
Work such as “Virtue” commands the space by way of stature and strong use of red, a dominant color evocative of power. The amorphous form gives viewers pause, questioning this shape’s existence and intention, and serves as foil to “Antare” which instead makes abundant use of its negative space. In focusing our attention to the red orb glowing in the canvases’ center, the sharp cutouts that frame the lower quadrants of this work leave much to free imagination. Ewing’s capacity to create this interwoven symbiosis similarly extends to his series of hand-formed sculptures done in autoclaved aerated concrete. The completed works retain a memory of the rigorous carving process by way of their porous material—the hewn chunks and sanded edges celebrate each executed gesture and ground these sculptures in their physicality. Both methods of expression root their origin story within a space of learning, begun by the artist and to be sustained by the viewer. In conversation with one another, the works on display seek to provide avenues for intimate reflection and response in communion with their audience.
Benjamin Ewing is a multidisciplinary artist located in Portland, Oregon. With a background in editorial photography and print design, his transition into painting and sculpture is rooted in the same visual principles. He continues to sift these concepts through new mediums. In the attempt to better understand the power of materials and the way in which they can inform one another. Ultimately, providing a language in which we may better understand ourselves.
Press:
Exploring the Intersection of Art and AAC
@benjamin.ewing
benjaminewing.com