SEBASTIAN BLANCK: She's My Best Friend

“Straight Ahead (2023) uses the holes in Isca’s hat as a field for formal play yet again, but in this work, the hat is almost unseen in favor of the patterning of light and shadow that is seemingly imprinted onto Isca’s face and neck. This overall cover of shapes on her face, glasses, neck, and shirt becomes (again) almost the subject of the painting; taken alone, the shapes could recall the abstract dots of Yayoi Kusama, among other artists.”

- Matthew Israel in "Spectacles of Living"

"If you look closely and give these works a bit of time, you can see that formal qualities in Blanck’s work occur to such an extent that they often threaten to upstage and disrupt the idyllic scenes he presents. In this respect, his paintings are spectacles not just because of his subject matter but because of his play and experimentation with form."

- Matthew Israel in "Spectacles of Living"

“Blanck’s paintings of his family feel like cherished moments, or efforts to stop time. They urge us, especially those of us who are currently bringing up families, not to take for granted the beautiful moments that we have in front of us, moments that too often speed by, and to see our lives as a series of spectacles of living to hold on to and to revere.”

- Matthew Israel in "Spectacles of Living"

Sebastian Blanck, (b. 1976 in New Haven, CT) received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI and, in 2001, was selected as a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome, Italy. 

Blanck’s work has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; Michael Reid Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson, WY; Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME; Ille Arts, Amagansett, NY; Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO; De Buck Gallery, New York, NY; Dubner Moderne, Lausanne, Switzerland; and Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden. 

He has been included in recent group exhibitions at Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden; The Bo Bartlett Center, Columbus, GA; LAUNCH F18, New York, NY; Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Dubner Moderne, Lausanne, Switzerland; De Buck Gallery, New York, NY; Lepore Savage Gallery, New York, NY; Wallspace, New York, NY; Scott White Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA; Werkstatte, New York, NY; and Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL. 

Blanck lives and works in New York, NY.