Galleri Urbane is pleased to announce 'Other Possible Worlds', an upcoming exhibition by Arden Bendler Browning. This exhibition marks Browning’s fourth exhibition with the gallery. Bendler’s trademark circular form is present within this series, continuing the abstracted landscapes made from live sketches, photographs, and meditation. Other Possible Worlds explores the physical, and metaphysical, aspects of landscape - engaged in the enveloping, cyclical experience of her paintings.
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Get a closer look at Other Possible Worlds on video
“I am also curious about the elusiveness of memory, as recorded moments dissipate and eventually morph into different versions of the reality that might have once been.”
Browning constructs the landscapes while on road trips in the U.S and abroad, painting in the passenger seat catching glimpses of what she sees. The artist then abstracts them into portal- like environments that explore the formal and memorial qualities of each location. In a philosophical sense, ‘possible worlds’ explore the bounds of logical statements we can delve into; given this context, “Other Possible Worlds describes metaphysical worlds that could have existed given certain shifts in reality: what might have been versus what is,” says Browning.
Exhibition Install Images:
The paintings, both in the process and in their final states, become worlds accessible to travel - both imagined and real for the viewer and Browning. “These paintings pull us in close to peer into the portal like drawings, and simultaneously push us back to appreciate the distinctive qualities of each complete circle, and the connections and relationships that exist between them,” says Browning.
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Arden checks in from her Philadelphia studio to answer some questions about Other Possible Worlds
Each drawing serves as the initial base for the paintings, framed as a rectangle within the rounded paintings; the contrast in shape and style of the drawing and paintings create two experiences within each work. Sweeping brush strokes of vibrant colors emanate from the drawings, responding to the formal qualities of each initial drawing. Abstraction and representation collide - experience and memory coalesce.
Philadelphia based artist Arden Bendler Browning creates large paintings, small works on paper, virtual reality (VR) environments, and public art. Her work explores movement, questions the desire for travel, the effect of digital imagery on perception and memory, and finding wonder and escape through immersive spaces. Her work hovers between landscape and abstraction.
Bendler Browning’s works are included in several public collections including the West Collection, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Microsoft Art Collection, Dream Hotel Nashville, Toyota, and numerous private and corporate collections. Her work is represented by Galleri Urbane in Dallas and Tinney Contemporary in Nashville. Press includes The Washington Post, Hyperallergic, New American Paintings, Bmore Art, The Studio Visit, Nashville Scene, I Like Your Work podcast, D Magazine, and more. Selected group exhibitions include American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Penn State University, and more. Public works include "Nonstop" (2017), a commissioned Percent for Art project for the City of Philadelphia at the Philadelphia International Airport, and "Elastic Geography" (2021), a Mural Arts Philadelphia project. She recently completed artist residencies at Interlude Artist Residency in Livingston, NY and at the Pouch Cove Foundation in Newfoundland, Canada.
Bendler Browning holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University (1997), a Master of Studio Art from Sydney College of the Arts (2000), and an MFA from Tyler School of Art (2003).