I use abstraction as a vehicle to think about my relationship to the world around me. Through my work I contemplate the underlying networks and relationships upon which social reality is built. We are each nodes of subjectivity within an ever-expanding network of dizzying complexity. On the one hand, we are accelerating toward a digital singularity without tactility, a social sphere that is digitally mediated, smooth and without texture. On the other hand, we crave analogue experiences, objects that we can feel with our eyes, materiality that is more than pixels of projected light. I am drawn to painting out of a desire for the real, for true objects and not simply the disembodied digital image.
My undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan were in cultural anthropology, and from this I have found the mutability of symbols, patterns, and abstract design to be a source of endless inspiration. Even the most "abstract" or nonobjective image carries meaning, and the challenge of abstraction is to find a mode of creating that resonates with and connects to my own contemporary lived experience. My paintings are in private collections across the United States and have been exhibited at galleries and venues in Philadelphia and Detroit, such as the Esther M. Klein Gallery, Automat Gallery, Urban Outfitters’ corporate headquarters, Whitdel Arts, and the Detroit Artists Market. Starting in late 2022, I have a painting on view at the Ambassador's residence at the US Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon as part of the US State Department's Art in Embassies program.
Born 1985 in Detroit, Michigan.
MFA, 2013 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
BFA, 2007 University of Michigan
Purchase a book :
Paintings 2016 - 2021
Paintings 2014 - 2016
To purchase work email justink.bean@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram: justinkingsleybean
Musical endeavors: https://www.discogs.com/artist/3318421-Justin-Bean
My undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan were in cultural anthropology, and from this I have found the mutability of symbols, patterns, and abstract design to be a source of endless inspiration. Even the most "abstract" or nonobjective image carries meaning, and the challenge of abstraction is to find a mode of creating that resonates with and connects to my own contemporary lived experience. My paintings are in private collections across the United States and have been exhibited at galleries and venues in Philadelphia and Detroit, such as the Esther M. Klein Gallery, Automat Gallery, Urban Outfitters’ corporate headquarters, Whitdel Arts, and the Detroit Artists Market. Starting in late 2022, I have a painting on view at the Ambassador's residence at the US Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon as part of the US State Department's Art in Embassies program.
Born 1985 in Detroit, Michigan.
MFA, 2013 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
BFA, 2007 University of Michigan
Purchase a book :
Paintings 2016 - 2021
Paintings 2014 - 2016
To purchase work email justink.bean@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram: justinkingsleybean
Musical endeavors: https://www.discogs.com/artist/3318421-Justin-Bean