Amanita is pleased to present Sonder, a group exhibition featuring works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Nicholas Campbell, William Eggleston, Ron Gorchov, Al Held, Bill Jensen, Vittorio Marella, Daniele Milvio, Alice Neel, Jack Pierson, Andrew Piedilato, Milton Resnick, Kimber Smith, Ben Werther, and Matthew Wong.
Sonder: [son-der] (n.) The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own — populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness — an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you'll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.
Thank you to Bueno & Co for the seamless collaboration.
Lynda Benglis (b. 1941, Lake Charles, Louisiana) is an American sculptor and visual artist known for her innovative use of materials and bold exploration of form. Emerging in the 1960s, she challenged minimalism by incorporating unconventional materials such as latex, foam, and wax to create dynamic, organic sculptures. Her work often blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture, featuring vibrant colors and flowing textures. Benglis gained notoriety for provocative pieces that questioned traditional gender roles and celebrated sexual autonomy. Her work is held in major institutions, including MoMA and the Guggenheim, where her legacy as a pioneer of post- minimalist sculpture continues to be recognized.
Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010, Paris, France) was an internationally renowned artist whose deeply personal work explored the complexities of memory, love, and abandonment. Born in France, much of her inspiration came from her early childhood, where she was influenced by her family's tapestry restoration business and her emotionally charged relationship with her parents. Bourgeois’ work spans from intimate drawings to monumental installations, often using the human body as a primary form to confront fears and unresolved emotions. Over her career, she created a body of work that fused psychology, autobiography, and feminist theory, which continues to resonate in contemporary art. Her legacy is marked by major exhibitions worldwide, and her work is included in the collections of institutions such as MoMA, the Guggenheim, and the Tate Modern.
Nicholas Campbell (b. 1995, Los Angeles, California) is an artist based in New York City whose large-scale, labor-intensive paintings tackle modern pathologies linked to social, historical, and technological shifts. A self-taught artist, Campbell’s practice engages with the complexities of contemporary life, often reflecting on the psychological effects of modernity. His works explore themes of alienation, dislocation, and personal identity within an ever-changing global context. Campbell holds a BA from Pitzer College, his recent exhibitions include solo shows at Smart Objects in Los Angeles and group exhibitions at venues such as CLEARING in New York and MAMOTH Gallery in London.
William Eggleston (b. 1939, Memphis, Tennessee) is a pioneering American photographer known for his "democratic" approach to subject matter, capturing the ordinary and overlooked moments of everyday life. Eggleston’s photographs often focus on banal objects, such as a red ceiling or a mundane street corner, transforming them into compelling and vibrant images. His use of dye-transfer printing, a process that produces intense, saturated colors, revolutionized color photography, an area previously deemed suitable only for commercial and advertising work. In 1976, Eggleston became the first photographer to have a solo exhibition of color photographs at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, giving artistic legitimacy to color photography. His work, which primarily documents Memphis, Tennessee, and the Mississippi Delta, is celebrated for its raw, often garish hues that capture the richness and texture of the American South.
Ron Gorchov (1930–2020, New York, New York) was an American abstract painter best known for his innovative shaped canvases, often curved or saddle-like, which combined painting with sculpture. His minimalist works featured biomorphic forms floating on layered, muted backgrounds. Emerging in the 1960s, he was part of the New York art scene alongside Frank Stella and Donald Judd. Gorchov experienced a resurgence in the 2000s, with his work gaining global recognition. His pieces are held in major institutions like MoMA and the Whitney. Gorchov’s legacy lies in his redefinition of the canvas and his contribution to abstract minimalism.
Al Held (1928–2005, Brooklyn, New York) was an American abstract painter best known for his bold geometric works, which explored depth, perspective, and vibrant color. His early career, shaped by his studies at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris and involvement in the New York art scene, saw his transition from gestural abstraction to hard-edge geometric painting. He became one of the most prominent figures in American abstract art. Held’s work was widely exhibited, with solo shows at major institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Bill Jensen (b. 1945, Minneapolis, Minnesota) came into prominence in the late 1970s in New York City. Known for his abstract and expressive works, Jensen's art often explores themes of spirituality and nature through gestural brushwork and rich textures. His work was exhibited at the New Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, at the Whitney Museum of American Art including 1981 Whitney Biennial, and the Museum of Modern Art. Recently, his work was shown at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in conjunction with its Albert Pinkham Ryder exhibition in 2021, and at MoMA PS1 in New York in 2016. Jensen earned his BFA and MFA from the University of Minnesota in 1968 and 1970 and relocated to New York City in 1971. He has lived and worked in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn since 1976. Jensen’s work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; the Dallas Museum of Art; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Boston Museum of Fine Art; the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; the Tate, London; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.
Vittorio Marella (b. 1997, Lido di Venezia, Italy) is an Italian self-taught painter whose work is characterized by an exploration of abstract forms and scientific themes. Based in Lido di Venezia, he began drawing and painting at an early age and later pursued astrophysics before deciding to dedicate himself fully to painting. Marella has exhibited at the Blu Gallery in Bologna and participated in collective shows at the Museo degli Eremitani in Padua. His work has gained attention in the contemporary art world, with notable appearances at the Booming Art Fair in Bologna and the Lang Leve Rembrandt exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in 2019. Marella’s paintings combine his scientific background with personal, abstract expression.
Daniele Milvio (b. 1988, Genoa, Italy) graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan in 2011 and is known for his dynamic approach to figurative painting, blending classical techniques with contemporary commentary. Milvio’s work draws on his deep appreciation for classical music, especially his early training in the violin, which informs the delicate balance and rhythm found in his compositions. His paintings push the boundaries of figurative art, using historical references to create new, alternative visual languages. Milvio’s works often feature mythological and archetypical imagery, critiquing the contradictions and absurdities of modern society. His art invites viewers to reflect on contemporary life through a lens of irony and symbolic resonance.
Alice Neel (b. 1900, Columbia, Pennsylvania) is celebrated for her distinctive portraits, landscapes, and interiors that captured elements of the American zeitgeist in the 20th century. Neel’s artistic pursuits were grounded in the social realities and struggles of her surrounding urban environment and heightened after she relocated from Greenwich Village to Spanish Harlem, where she would spend most of her adult life. In 1974, she was given a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Subsequent museum and gallery exhibitions garnered her increased popularity and recognition that was long overdue, further cementing her legacy as one of the leading figurative painters who captured the spirit of her age.
Andrew Piedilato (b. 1974, Athens, Georgia) is an American painter known for his bold, expressive works that blend figuration and abstraction. Based in The Berkshires, MA, Piedilato’s paintings explore the tension between representation and abstraction through vivid colors and dynamic compositions. He received his MFA in Painting from Pratt Institute, NY, and has a BFA in Painting from the University of Georgia, GA. Piedilato has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the 2015 Rosenthal Family Foundation Award in Painting, the George Segal Grant in 2005, and a nomination for the Lambent Fellowship in 2006. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at venues such as The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; Patrick Painter, Los Angeles; and the HVCCA and Black & White Gallery, New York. Piedilato’s works are included in the collections of the Berkeley Art Museum, the Fredrick Weisman Museum of Art, and the Flint Institute of Arts.
Jack Pierson (b. 1960, Plymouth, Massachusetts) works across multiple media, including sculpture, photography, video, and installations, and is best known for his word signage pieces. Pierson’s work explores the emotional undercurrents of everyday life, from romantic attachment to the idolization of others. His use of vintage texts and roadside ephemera evokes a lost era of American cultural symbolism, imbuing his word sculptures with nostalgia and disillusionment. Emerging in the era of AIDS, Pierson’s work carries a sense of melancholy and introspection, often tempered with a celebratory aura of seduction and glamour. His work, which revolves around themes of memory, obsession, and absence, is ultimately about hope, as Pierson himself states.
Milton Resnick (1917–2004, Bratslav, Ukraine) was an American painter known for his unique contributions to Abstract Expressionism. Resnick immigrated to the U.S. in 1922 and studied at the American Artists School in New York. His early work adhered to Abstract Expressionist principles, but he later shifted to dense, impasto-ed monochrome canvases that emphasized the physical properties of paint. Resnick’s approach anticipated movements focused on materiality and process, influencing many significant artists after him. His large-scale works often defy traditional meaning, inviting viewers to experience them viscerally. Resnick's paintings, characterized by a sense of timelessness, are housed in major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Kimber Smith (b. 1922, New York City) was an American painter who gained recognition for his expressive abstract works. His first exhibition at The New Gallery in 1951, where his work was paired with Joan Mitchell’s, marked the beginning of his significant presence in the New York art scene. Smith’s first solo show followed just three years later at the same gallery. In 1954, he moved to Paris, where he became part of an expatriate community of American artists that included Mitchell, Sam Francis, and Shirley Jaffe. His work was featured in the 1958 exhibition Die Neue Amerikanische Malerei at Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. After his death in 1981, Smith’s work was shown posthumously at prestigious venues, including the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, the American Center in Paris, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
Ben Werther (b. 1998, Nashville, Tennessee) is an interdisciplinary artist who received his BFA from Cooper Union in 2020. A passionate collector from a young age, Werther’s work often involves taking historical artifacts and images, and creating new narratives around them in order to explore the relationship between myth, history, and personal memory. His practice often employs regimented processes such as crayon rubbings of found handwritten notes and stamping US state quarters with conspiracy theories. Most recently he spent three years attending airsoft live action role-play events. He photographed these event extensively, writing an alternative history for the images which he published into his first book, titled When you can no longer speak, sing me a song.
Matthew Wong (1984–2019, Toronto, Canada) was a self-taught Canadian painter whose surreal, poetic works captured emotional landscapes and solitary figures in vivid, atmospheric settings. Known for his iconic imagery of lone figures wandering through imaginary, dappled environments and intimate, moody interiors painted from memory, Wong's work evokes nostalgia, both personal and collective. Wong rose to international prominence in 2017 through group exhibitions in New York, including at Cheim & Read, and was hailed by Roberta Smith of The New York Times. His first U.S. solo exhibition at Karma, New York, in 2018, was met with critical acclaim and coverage in The New York Times and The New Yorker. Tragically, Wong died in October 2019 at the age of 35. His work has been featured in museum exhibitions, such as Blue View at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, as well as a solo exhibition of his work at the Van Gogh Museum exhibition Matthew Wong Vincent Van Gogh: Painting as a Last Resort. This exhibition is traveling and is currently on view at the Kunsthaus Zurich. It will open at the Albertina in Vienna in February 2025. His works are held in major collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Morgan Library, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
