Body of Work 2019

Colour
Blind

Exhibition
Exhibition Colour Blind
Curator Ashley McKenzie-Barnes
Year 2019
The Series

Colour Blind uses portraiture and bold fields of colour to consider race, individuality and the complicated promise of a society that claims not to see difference.

Presented in 2019, the series continued Bing's exploration of Black portraiture through vibrant compositions that foreground the individuality, presence and humanity of his subjects.

The title deliberately holds a contradiction. While “colourblindness” can suggest an aspiration toward racial equality, it can also obscure the realities of prejudice, cultural heritage and perspectives shaped by lived experience.

Works Colour Blind · 2019
Colour Blind, 2019, painting by Benny Bing
JADE, 2019 Acrylic on canvas
40 x 60 in
Colour Blind, 2019, painting by Benny Bing
LILI, 2019 Acrylic on canvas
40 x 60 in
Colour Blind, 2019, painting by Benny Bing
JASMONIQUE, 2019 Acrylic on canvas
40 x 60 in
Colour Blind, 2019, painting by Benny Bing
ARTWORK TITLE, 2019 Acrylic on canvas
DIMENSIONS
Colour Blind, 2019, painting by Benny Bing
ARTWORK TITLE, 2019 Acrylic on canvas
DIMENSIONS
Colour Blind, 2019, painting by Benny Bing
ARTWORK TITLE, 2019 Acrylic on canvas
DIMENSIONS
Colour / Difference

The series asks whether recognizing our shared humanity requires us to stop seeing difference.

01

Colour

Bold colour operates as both formal language and conceptual device, amplifying rather than neutralizing difference.

02

Identity

The portraits insist upon the individuality of their subjects while locating them within a broader conversation about race and representation.

03

Visibility

Rather than erase race in pursuit of equality, the series asks what becomes possible when difference is acknowledged without hierarchy.

04

Shared Humanity

Beneath the visual differences between us, the exhibition returns to the possibility of connection through a common humanity.

Exhibitions

Colour Blind was presented across Toronto in 2019.

2019 Colour Blind Neighbourhood Studios · Toronto
2019 Colour Blind Yorkville Village · Toronto
Curatorial

Colour Blind was curated by Ashley McKenzie-Barnes. The original exhibition opened June 15, 2019 at Neighbourhood Studios in Toronto.

Colour Blind

To see one another fully is not to erase difference, but to recognize humanity without asking difference to disappear.

Earlier Body of Work ← Women Of Color
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