Benjamin Houlihan

Benjamin Houlihan consistently breaks through familiar patterns of perception, uncovering unknown dimensions within the everyday. He subjects inconspicuous found objects to a multi-layered translation process, granting them a new, physically tangible existence, thereby making the seemingly trivial visible. In his shaping process, he adheres strictly to the original form he encounters. However, his inventive choice of materials and surface design initially provoke confusion about what one is actually seeing. Even in his fourth solo exhibition at the Thomas Rehbein Galerie, Houlihan's works invite viewers to look closely.

Brightly colored objects occupy the space. The inspiration came from various packaging and work materials that the artist utilized in his creative process. A dog had chewed, bitten, or even shredded these items lying around the studio beyond recognition. It was only through this deformation that they became interesting to Houlihan as sculptural objects, inspiring him to take casts of these found items. He has essentially documented this process as an "artistic process." The result is a collection of fragmentary, worn objects that lie between composition and chance. Like debris or relics that only hint at their original, recognizable forms, they become genuine obstacles within the space. In different materials and a new environment, Houlihan's objects exist as individual forms.

A long, abstract frieze runs along the gallery walls.

In his 2011 exhibition, Benjamin Houlihan had already decorated two entire wall surfaces with an abstract pattern of color dots in a brightening red, creating a shimmering effect. By titling it Leckwand, he allowed the unusual process of its creation to shine through. In the same impressionistic style, spontaneous and free in his use of color, a plastically protruding frieze now offers a new spatial experience while simultaneously questioning the eternal claim of art through the wall as a picture carrier.

(Miriam Walgate, 2014)