Biography

Biography

Through his densely rendered ink drawings, Ben Tolman creates crowded environments depicting multi-tiered dramas of city life. Human behavior and daily habits – specifically along social, economic and politic – are represented in a where’s-waldo manner. Most of his works are created of composite images, keeping the cities anonymous & fictional. Tolman’s visual tales, yet gloomy & enigmatic, are undeniably inviting. When taking a step back, the viewer becomes immersed in a extensive vision of the bizzare systems that shape our society. Through the larger scene, one may find a multitude of smaller stories coexisting.

Tolman’s complex vision is transposed onto the paper as a matrix of increasingly emboldened hatch marks. To achieve such drawings, the artist works an average of 12-hour days in his studio, with projects taking up to six months to complete.

Ben Tolman lives and works in Washington D.C., he received his MFA in 2012 from the American University and his BFA from the Corcoran College of Art and Design

Artist CV

Solo Exhibitions

 

December 7, 2017 to January 13, 2018
New Drawings
Galerie LJ, Paris, France

 

January 19 to February 25, 2017
Weltschmerz
Gallery Neptune & Brown, Washington, DC

 

February 27 to March 28, 2015
Civilized
Flashpoint Gallery, Washington, DC

 

May 3 to June 1, 2014

Fiction

The Fridge, Washington, DC

 

September 10 to October 9, 2011
A Few More Drawings
The Fridge, Washington, DC

 

Group Exhibitions

 

December 1, 2016 to January 14, 2017
Urbanopolis
Galerie LJ, Paris, France

 

August 13 to September 10, 2016
Fourth Wall
Booth Gallery NY, NY

 

August 03 to August 20, 2016
Cluster
Jonathan LeVine Gallery, NY

 

July 7 to August 18, 2012
Academy 2012
Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, DC

 

March 19 2011 to April 9, 2011
Dystopia
Copro Gallery, Los Angeles CA

 

June 19 to August 15, 2010
Draw
Museum of the City of Mexico, Mexico

 

October 2009 to August 2010
Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC

 

 

Collections

Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Omer Koc Collection, Istanbul, Turkey

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