Limb | Ben Coutouvidis

Eclectica Contemporary is pleased and excited to present a solo exhibition by Ben Coutouvidis for the month of April. A selection of new work is curated within the space, spanning the street level of the gallery as well as a sculptural installation on the basement level.

The title of this new exhibition alludes to the physicality of the work – in forms and shapes and in making, from the intertwined roots and branches of trees reaching out across the canvas like fingers and legs and toes, to the spliced and re-articulated sculptural figures. ‘Limb’ gestures through language and imagination.

Using an array of wood collected from forests, the Milnerton market and other strange places, Ben Coutouvidis creates chimerical beings as a mode of exploring how we can reformat and reimagine previously determined things. Chimerical beings are mythical creatures created from different parts of different animals and beings and each make use of these different parts as a culmination of strengths. Rather than rejecting objects and forms as they break or seem to be redundant, Ben Coutouvidis reimagines new creatures that are recreated for new purposes and presented as art objects.

Extending through his work is a motif of earth and finding ones’ place within and around landscapes. Consistent in Ben’s exploration is a consideration of how human interaction shapes and marks land, with an interest in textures and environments for habitation and adventure.

The works in this exhibition explore and illustrate the notion of speaking through movement, using different mediums to articulate different thoughts that come together around the central connection of gesture, different notions of body and the worlds that we find ourselves in.