Ben Blount: Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut is an examination of our relationship to white supremacy in the United States. It’s ubiquitous, yet unseen. Both monumental and myth. Are we safe or are we surrounded?
—Ben Blount
Ben Blount is an artist, designer, and printer interested in notions of American identity, race, and culture. His work draws on a common cultural language of objects, stories, stereotypes, and experiences as a starting point to draw attention to the disparities between what we see and how we are seen. With a background in advertising and graphic design, his work tends to be message-based and typographic. He seeks to re-present implicit and explicit ideas of race in a way that invites/provokes a conversation with the viewer.
Ben’s favorite medium is ink on paper. Typically his work takes the form of letterpress printed books, broadsides, and ephemera, but has grown to include installation and other forms as dictated by the content. He is interested in current events, unearthed histories, cultural slang, unspoken rules, and dirty laundry. He places his work in the tradition of a tragicomic hope that has been expressed through the history of black art and music. Truth tellers in all areas of popular culture inspire his work—from writers and artists to comedians and emcees.
Free and open to the public
Where
MCBA Outlook Gallery
When
January 11, 2021–March 28, 2021
Viewable from the street
Read more about Eyes Wide Shut, including Ben’s process and intent, at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, MinnPost, and Minnesota Monthly.
Upcoming Exhibitions