
Sadie BenningVereinigte Staaten, 1973Darf man es sehen?
Minneapolis, Vereinigte Staaten
Es gehört zur Sammlung, ist derzeit aber nicht ausgestellt.
Sadie Benning has worked primarily in video, exploring aspects of identity, memory, and loss that reflect the artist’s experiences as a gay youth. More recently, Benning has explored “construction” or “jigsaw” paintings and mixed-media works made from wood pieces individually cut and then reassembled into a relief. In Bess, Benning’s prominent use of crosses and circles reference the self-taught American painter Forrest Bess (1911–1977), who created a complex visual language to communicate his controversial ideas about transgender identity. In particular, Benning’s work appears to directly reference Bess’s painting Untitled #42 (1950), which depicts male and female genders as symbols of life and death. For Benning, Forrest Bess undoubtedly represents a pioneering figure for transgender identity and experimentation, making this work very much an homage to the late painter.
Minneapolis Institute of Art