ben murray and carol jackson: the armory show 2015

The Armory Show Pier 94 Booth 858

Ben Murray & Carol Jackson

The Armory Show 2015 moniquemeloche Pier 94, Booth 858

March 5-8, 2015

This publication was created on the occasion of The Armory Show

© 2015


Ben Murray American, b. 1977, lives Chicago, IL

Ben Murray's atmospheric images depict banal objects as transformed by the effects of

memory, mood and painterly improvisation. The paintings display the layering of

attempts to claim images in stages of constant flux. Murray was a 2014 Artist in

Residence at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha, Nebraska and a 2012

MFA Resident at Ox-Bow in Saugatuck, Michigan. Murray acknowledges the

complicated relationships that image-making within painting has and can have for how

we see and edit the past.

Carol Jackson

American, b. 1962 lives Chicago, IL

Ornate western saddles, graphics from industrial-age sheet music covers, American

Rococo furniture, government webcam stills monitoring the California freeways, and

landscapes, are the source material for the multi-media works of Carol Jackson. Recently

included in the 2014 Whitney Biennial of American Art, the grand narratives of epic

literature and their portrayal of triumph and loss inspire her work. For Armory 2015,

Jackson explores one of the central themes in Milton’s Paradise Lost: free will.


Ben Murray Skylight, 2015 Oil on canvas 84 x 54 inches overall 2 panels: 42 x 54 inches each


Ben Murray Reception, 2015 Oil on canvas 78 x 90 inches


Ben Murray Doorways, 2015 Oil on canvas 72 x 84 inches overall 2 panels: 72 x 42 inches each


Ben Murray Beds, 2015 Oil on canvas 72 x 84 inches


Ben Murray Lamp, 2014 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on paper 70 x 60 x 3 inches framed


Carol Jackson about half an hour, 2015 Papier-mâché, polymer, acrylic, enamel, digital print 18 x 22 x 20 inches


Carol Jackson soon, 2015 Papier-mâché, polymer, acrylic, enamel, digital print 12.5 x 17.5 x 10 inches


Carol Jackson a couple hours, 2015 Papier-mâché, polymer, acrylic, enamel, digital print 16 x 32 x 23 inches


Carol Jackson I am Saddened, 2014 Gouache and ink on paper 17 x 14 inches


Ben Murray

American, born 1977 Merrillville, IN, lives Chicago, IL Education 2013 MFA University of Illinois at Chicago, IL 2011 BFA Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN 2003 Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art, Brittany, France 2000 AA American Academy of Art, Chicago, IL Solo Exhibitions 2014 Centerville, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, IL 2006 A Moot Documentary, Flux Space, Indianapolis, IN Group Exhibitions 2015 New American Paintings: Midwest Edition, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL 2014 Ground Floor, Chicago emerging artists biennial, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL 2013 Recent Paintings, Kaplan A.I.R. Exhibitions, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL Curated by John Neff Revisiting Undomesticated, Design Cloud, Chicago, IL A strange house in my voice, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Gallery 400, University of Illinois,

Chicago, IL Winter Group Exhibition: No-Show, West Pilsen Sculpture Garden, Chicago, IL

2012 MDW Fair, UIC MFA Booth, Chicago, IL 2010 Bootleg Vol. 2, Bootleg Gallery, Indianapolis, IN Friends of Chautauqua, Arizona State University Gallery, Phoenix, AZ 2009 Bootleg Vol. 1, Bootleg Gallery, Indianapolis, IN 2007 Flux Closing, Flux Space, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Interchange (Collaborative Project Show), Indianapolis, IN

Surface Communication, Madison Gallery, Indianapolis, IN Resurgence, Madison Gallery, Indianapolis, IN Group Show (Donor Event), Eskenazi Hall, Indianapolis, IN

2005 Janus Ball (Charity Auction), Indiana Rooftop Ballroom, Indianapolis, IN Is, Was, Will Be, Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, FR Is, Was, Will Be, Espace Melanie, Riec-sur-Belon, FR

Residencies, Fellowships, Grants and Awards 2014 Artist in Residence - Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts - Omaha, NE, USA 2012 MFA Artist in Residence - Ox-Bow - Saugatuck, MI, USA 2012 Dedalus Award Nominee - University of Illinois at Chicago 2012 Dean’s Scholar Nominee - University of Illinois at Chicago 2011 Board of Trustees Waiver - University of Illinois at Chicago 2004 Best of Show - Senior Exhibition – Herron School of Art 2003 Rev. A. G. Fraser International Travel Award – Herron School of Art 2002 Joseph Vansickle Scholarship – Herron School of Art Selected Bibliography 2015 “Ten reasons to get excited about the winter art season”, The Chicago Tribune, January 2014 “Review: Ben Murray @ Monique Meloche”, Newcity, May 15. New American Paintings, No. 113 Midwestern Issue, curated by Staci Boris, Chief

Curator Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL 2013 "Ben Murray (Featured Artist)", MakeSpace.net, May.

"Stories From the Inside - an Interview with MFA student Ben Murray", Gallery 400 blog, March.

2012 "Smallness and Sameness at Chicago’s MDW Fair", Art Fag City, November.


Selected Bibliography continued 2009 "George Benedict Murray III", Conduit Chicago, September. 2006 "A Moot Documentary", OntheCusp.org, February.

Related Employment 2013-14 Teacher Artist, Patrick Henry Elementary, George Washington High School,

CAPE, Chicago, IL 2013 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Summer Bridge Program, University of Illinois at

Chicago, IL 2012-13 Instructor of Record, Drawing I, the Beginning, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL 2012 Graduate Assistant (Studio/Sculpture Shop Technician Assistant & Art

Education Assistant @Spiral Workshop) University of Illinois at Chicago, IL 2012 Teaching Assistant (Assistant Professor Dianna Frid), Topics in Drawing I &

Advanced Topicsin Drawing, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL 2011-12 Senior Preparator, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL 2007-11 Preparator/ Storage Collections Assistant, Icon Group, Chicago, IL 2006–07 Freelance Preparator, New York, NY 2005, 07 Sol LeWitt Wall Painting Draftsman, Indianapolis, IN, New York, NY 2005 Teacher Artist, VSA Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 2004-05 Instructor / Coordinator, Herron School of Art (Saturday School/Honors Art),

Indianapolis, IN Other Experience

2014 Presenter, Art Talk, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE 2013 Presenter, Conversation with Ben Murray and John Neff, Kaplan A.I.R. Exhibitions @

NWU, Evanston, IL 2013 Presenter, A stranger house in my voice., University of Illinois at Chicago, IL 2012 Presenter, Mutual Interpretations, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL


Carol Jackson

American, born 1962. Lives and works in Chicago, IL Education

1987 BFA University of California at Los Angeles 1992 MFA School of the Art Institute of Chicago Solo Exhibitions

2015 Pandemonium, Cleve Carney Art Gallery at the McAninch Arts Center, Glen Ellyn, IL 2014 High Plains Drifter, Threewalls, Chicago, IL 2013 Slow Gallery, Chicago, IL 2011 Swimming Pool Project Space, Chicago, IL 2007 Gallery 400, Chicago, IL 2006 Changing Role, Move Over Gallery, Naples, Italy 2004 Gallery 2.5, Illinois St. University, Normal, IL 2003 Van Harrison Gallery, Chicago, IL 2002 Ten in One Gallery, New York, NY 2001 Ten in One Gallery, New York, NY 2000 Ten in One Gallery, New York, NY 1998 L.A.C.E., Paragon Recall Training Center, Los Angeles, CA 1997 Chicago Project Room, Optco Paragon Recall Industries, Chicago, IL Ten in One Gallery, The Adventure Store, Chicago, IL Selected Group Exhibitions

2014 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum, New York, NY My Hands Are My Bite, curated by Dan Gunn, moniquemeloche, Chicago,IL 2013 Suitcase Art, Kunsthaus Speckstrasse, Hamburg, Germany Paul is Not Gay, Slow Gallery, Chicago, IL 2012 Write Now: Artists and Letterforms, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2011 Mutualisms, Co-Prosperity, Chicago, IL B.A.D., Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL 2010 Roots and Culture- duo exhibition with John Henley, Chicago, IL Writ Deep, Jack Olsen Gallery, NIU, De Kalb, IL 2009 Solo for 3, Swimming Pool Project Space, Chicago, IL Response: Art and the Art of Criticism, I-space with Jason Foumberg, Chicago, IL 2008 HEARTLAND, Van Abbe Museum, Netherlands Brown Triangle with Karolina Gnatowski, Chicago, IL, 2006 Drawing as Process, Smart Museum, Chicago, IL Wherever, a traveling show of editions curated by Dan Devening 2005 Art Chicago In the Park Van Harrison Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004 Art Miami/Basel, Van Harrison Gallery Fine Words, Butter, No Cabbage, White Walls 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL 2003 Armory Show, NY, Ten in One Group Show, Care of, Milan, Italy Carol Jackson and Oli Watt, Street Level Gallery, Chicago, IL 2002 The Devil is in the Details, Gahlberg Gallery, Du Page, IL Art Chicago Navy Pier, Ten in One Gallery, Chicago, IL 2002 Compound Fractures, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL 2001 Con-textual, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL Remix, I-space, Chicago, IL 2000 The Guts Show, Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL 2000 The Devil is in the Details, Inner Town Pub, Chicago, IL The City that Works, POST, Los Angeles, CA 1999 Shoplift!, ACME Art Co., Columbus, Ohio


Selected Group Exhibitions continued 1998 Concerning Truth, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL low budget films, Brooklyn, NY 1997 Speak Easy, N.A.M.E., Chicago, IL 1995 The Art of the Comic Book, Artlink, Fort Wayne, Indiana Wallflower, Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, IL 1994 Red Windows, Barneys New York, Chicago, IL Selected Bibliography 2014 Al Jazeera America, aired March 7. Symonds, Alexandria, “Interview’s Picks from the Whitney Biennial”, Interview Magazine,

March. Indrisek, Scott, “This Is Not a Survey: An Incomplete Review of the Whitney Biennial”.

Blouin Art Info, March 6. Yangm Susan, “The Biennial’s Uptown Salvo”, Ephemeralist, March 7. Steinhauer, Jillian, “Whitney Biennial 2014: Where Have All the Polotics Gone?”

Hyperallergic, March 5. Russeth, Andrew, “The 2014 Whitney Biennial Disappoints With Misfires, Omissions,

Only Glimmers of Greatness”, Gallerist New York, March 6. “Art in Bloom: Top 5 Art Picks this Spring”,Becoming Middlebrow, March 15. Robertson, Rebecca, “Photography at the Whitney Biennial: Hidden in Plain Sight”, Art

News, March 6. 2012 Jason Foumberg, New City. 2010 Dan Gunn, Newcity. 2010 Videotaped Interview, Smart Museum website. 2009 Heartland catalogue Response: Art and the Art of Criticism, catalogue. Stratton, Shannon,“The Pursuit of Happiness”, Fiber Arts, October. Without Borders VI, University of Maine. 2007 Foumberg, Jason, “Carol Jackson”, Frieze, August 28. Alan Artner, “Jackson has a few words for modernism”, Chicago Tribune, September 6. 2007 Ruth Lopez, TimeOut Chicago. 2006 Alan Artner, “Drawing as Process”, Chicago Tribune. Anthony Elms, “Carol Jackson”, Gallery 400, essay available through website. 2003 The New Yorker, review of summer show. 2002 Buzz Spector, Context-ual catalogue 2002 New York Times Critical Writing 2005 Catalogue essay for Jim Torok solo exhibition at Gahlberg Gallery, IL 2003 Catalogue essay for Pauline Stella Sanchez at Pomona Museum, CA 2000-02 Regular contributor to frieze magazine Visiting Artist

2013 Art Institute of Chicago, Artist’s Connect Series Lecturer 2010 NIU, MFA show Juror, De Kalb 2009 American Craft Exhibition, Evanston IL panelist 2008 Roger Brown Residency - New Buffalo, MI 2006 UIC Gallery 400, visiting artist and lecturer 2004 Illinois State University Bloomington/Normal Resident visiting artist 2002 Washington University, visiting lecturer 1997 Speak Easy, N.A.M.E., Chicago, panelist


Selected Public and Private Collections The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Chicago Hotz Collection, London Werner Hirsch Drawing Collection, Los Angeles Kenneth F. Freed Collection, Boston Guy Anderson, London, England Max Becker, Düsseldorf, Germany Mark and Judy Bednar, Chicago Guido Cabib, Naples, Italy Carlton Calvin, New York Cliff Diver, New York Kersten Neimann, Eindhoven


moniquemeloche was founded in October 2000 with an inaugural exhibition

titled Homewrecker at Meloche’s home, and officially opened to the public in May 2001.

Working with an international group of emerging artists in all media, the gallery

presents conceptually challenging installations in Chicago and at art fairs internationally

with an emphasis on curatorial and institutional outreach.

ben murray and carol jackson: the armory show 2015

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