Summer Series: Hilary Pecis in Conversation with Benjamin Godsill

Aug 8, 2024 12:30PM-1:30PM MST

Schermer Meeting Hall

Hilary Pecis (b. 1979, Fullerton, California) makes paintings and drawings in which tableaus rich with interlocking fields of saturated color, geometric patterning, and bold linework provide views of sun-drenched domestic still lifes and landscape environments. Books crowding a coffee table, the remains of a dinner party, and terrains lush with Southern California succulents make frequent appearances in her work; these meticulously arranged interiors and vibrantly rendered exteriors amount to an overarching portrait of the self that identifies objects and locations as signifiers for human characteristics. Pecis combines distorted perspectives and surprising juxtapositions of hue, placing her work in dialogue with modernist art historical movements like Fauvism in which subjective and analytical tendencies are synthesized. At the same time, her interest in images sourced from her personal experience allows her to transform recognizable mise-en-scènes into vivid explorations that celebrate the quiet moments of everyday life. [Read more]

Benjamin Godsill is a curator, art advisor and podcaster. Benjamin is a leading authority in the realm of late 20th and early 21st Century art and is a global tastemaker whose savvy curatorial and market insights have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Bloomberg, among other publications. As an art advisor and the Founder of Curatorial Services, LLC Benjamin has worked for almost a decade with some of the world’s top private collectors to build and refine exceptional collections of Post-War and Contemporary Art. He also serves as the curator of the Dallas and London based Labora collection. A highly sought-after curator, Benjamin has organized highly regarded exhibitions in Mexico City, the Republic of Georgia, Italy, Aspen, Detroit, Dallas, East Hampton, and London as well as New York and Los Angeles. He was the first to exhibit a number of artists who have gone on to earn significant curatorial accolades and market attention. [Read more]

Panel

Hilary Pecis

2024 Summer Series Speaker

Hilary Pecis (b. 1979, Fullerton, California) makes paintings and drawings in which tableaus rich with interlocking fields of saturated color, geometric patterning, and bold linework provide views of sun-drenched domestic still lifes and landscape environments. Books crowding a coffee table, the remains of a dinner party, and terrains lush with Southern California succulents make frequent appearances in her work; these meticulously arranged interiors and vibrantly rendered exteriors amount to an overarching portrait of the self that identifies objects and locations as signifiers for human characteristics. Pecis combines distorted perspectives and surprising juxtapositions of hue, placing her work in dialogue with modernist art historical movements like Fauvism in which subjective and analytical tendencies are synthesized. At the same time, her interest in images sourced from her personal experience allows her to transform recognizable mise-en-scènes into vivid explorations that celebrate the quiet moments of everyday life. Hilary Pecis has been the subject of solo exhibitions at TAG Art Museum, Qingdao, China (2023); Rockefeller Center, New York (2021); Timothy Taylor, London (2021); Spurs Gallery, Beijing (2020); Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York (2020); and Crisp-Ellert Art Museum, Flagler College, St. Augustine, Florida (2019). Recent group exhibitions include The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (2023); 13 Women: Variation I, Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, California (2022–2023); Present Generations: Creating the Scantland Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio (2021); FEEDBACK, The School at Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, New York (2021); L.A.: Views, Maki Gallery, Tokyo (2020); High Voltage, The Nassima-Landau Project, Tel Aviv, Israel (2020); and (Nothing but) Flowers, Karma, New York (2020). Her work is in the permanent collections of institutions including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio; Aïshti Foundation, Beirut; and Yuz Museum, Shanghai. Pecis lives and works in Los Angeles.

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Benjamin Godsill

2024 Summer Series Speaker

Benjamin Godsill is a curator, art advisor and podcaster. Benjamin is a leading authority in the realm of late 20th and early 21st Century art and is a global tastemaker whose savvy curatorial and market insights have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Bloomberg, among other publications. As an art advisor and the Founder of Curatorial Services, LLC Benjamin has worked for almost a decade with some of the world’s top private collectors to build and refine exceptional collections of Post-War and Contemporary Art. He also serves as the curator of the Dallas and London based Labora collection.A highly sought-after curator, Benjamin has organized highly regarded exhibitions in Mexico City, the Republic of Georgia, Italy, Aspen, Detroit, Dallas, East Hampton, and London as well as New York and Los Angeles. He was the first to exhibit a number of artists who have gone on to earn significant curatorial accolades and market attention. Along with Vanity Fair art columnist Nate Freeman, Benjamin hosts the hit podcast, NOTA BENE – the podcast version of a boozy lunch at Sant Ambroeus in which the hosts dish fresh art world gossip from Dimes Square to Mayfair, peel back the curtain on auctions, galleries and fairs—and, critically, tell you where to eat and drink in every museum-stuffed port of call. From 2012-2015 Benjamin was a Senior Specialist in Contemporary Art at the Phillips auction house where he personally oversaw the buying and selling of over 25 million dollars worth of art annually and helped to set world-record prices for a number of leading artists of our time. From 2006-2012, Benjamin held various curatorial roles at New York’s New Museum. Benjamin attended the Whitney Independent Study Program, The New School, and Pitzer College in Claremont, California.

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