DELICATE SPACE
Ben Young, Delicate Space: January 6-31, 2024
Opening reception: January 11, 6-8pm
508 W. 28th St., New York, NY, 10001
RSVP to Info@ChesterfieldGallery.com
“Ben Young’s sculpture fluidly blends glass, concrete, bronze, steel, and light to depict romantic
and pensive imagery highlighting the fragility of our climate and its most precious resource –
water. Born in Australia and raised in New Zealand, Young is an avid surfer and environmentalist,
inspired by a lifetime on and around oceans, bays, and reefs, with an intimate understanding of
the challenges our precious ecosystems face.
Young’s thought-provoking sculpture shows great range, portraying the beauty and solitude of
life on the ocean, haunting depths of the deep sea, and stunning and relaxing upside of island
life. Water is many things to many people, which Young encapsulates brilliantly in his work,
encompassing themes of sustainability throughout.
Using concrete to create mountains, crevasses, sand bars, and cliffs, Young’s innovative use of
materials is transportative. With hand-carved glass as his guiding medium, Young amplifies light
and its relationship with water – our most sacred element – to create a glowing unity that people
from around the world connect with on a personal level, whether they are beachside or in the
desert.
Ben Young’s exhibition Delicate Space at Chesterfield Gallery in Chelsea at 508 W. 28th Street is
the artist’s first solo exhibition in the Western Hemisphere and will be a comprehensive showing
of his most recent works, all made in 2023.
Young has previously shown with Chesterfield Gallery at The Salon Art + Design at The Park
Avenue Armory in New York, Art Wynwood in Miami, and the gallery’s former spaces on the
Upper East Side and Lower East Side. Young has had solo exhibitions in Singapore and New
Zealand, group exhibitions in Chicago, Sydney, and Taipei, and was part of Fired Up: Glass Today,
a landmark exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut.”
- Simon Abrahms, Founder of Chesterfield Gallery
“Delicate Space is a continuation of my ongoing inquiry into the multifaceted relationship shared
between mankind and the natural world. In a time where our influence upon the environment has
grown undeniable, this interplay has assumed a profound significance. Delicate Space provokes
contemplation of two pivotal inquiries: What unfolds as a result of our interventions in the natural
order? And how does our individual perception of the world around us shape our understanding of
reality itself?
By challenging conventional ideas of equilibrium and perception, the interaction between materials
references the delicate dance of coexistence that defines our relationship with the environment and
nature’s attempt to maintain harmony in the face of human interference.
Water, a recurring subject for me, with its ceaseless journey, serves as the central subject for this
exhibition. As water flows through landscapes, carves valleys, and traverses ecosystems, it embodies
nature’s tenacity, always seeking balance. Just as water finds its level in the most fragile of spaces,
so too does Delicate Space strive to explicate the moments when the balance between man and
nature is at its most delicate.”
- Ben Young
