Exhibitions

John Behnke: FALSE GUIDES

Jan 25, 2025 - Mar 14, 2025
Opening: Saturday, Jan 25, 2025 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Guild Room


False Guides presents frozen moments from three interlocking stories of striving, deception, and perdition. John Behnke uses a rich mix of materials – colored pencils, alcohol markers, acrylics, oils, glaze, and glitter – layered to build scenes of hallucinogenic detail and vivid color. Behnke is known for his radiant, open skies, but scenes in False Guides play in a different register, taking us to realms of dust and shadow. In “The Wanderers” series, we follow a tribe of animated mannequins that populate an abandoned mall in Minnesota. They grope through the merchandise that remains in the ruins, seeking some semblance of an identity. Other works take us to different corners of Behnke’s re-imagined America – Texas and California. In both, cults fueled by promises of transcendence descend into orgies of self-destruction. “All these series are based on people being led in strange ways that warp an individual’s perspective and ultimately cause one’s demise,” the artist says. 


For more information, go to: www.epiphanychi.com


Photo Credit: Project Onward

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