Within You Without You

Inspired by the Modern European art tradition and the elegant gestures of martial arts movement, Jana Benitez expresses an interior world with her bold murals. Combining figurative and abstract symbols with uninhibited brush work, Benitez explores emotion in human faces and figures. Her images can evoke an intense yet whimsical quarrel between vibrant internal organs and a cogitating mind.

Jana Benitez (b. 1985) was born in New York to a Filipino family. She graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a B.A in visual arts in 2008. She studied martial arts at a Daoist temple in China. Benitez had her first solo exhibition at the age for fourteen at the Walter Wickiser Gallery in New York. She has been exhibiting since then in New York, the Philippines, and recently in Berlin. Her works are included in some major private and public collections, including Pataka Museum in New Zealand, Ayala Museum and Museo Pambata in the Philippines.

Cao Yi demonstrates solid skills in a wide variety of media including photography, drawing, and painting. The video of his photo series “Beauty in My Eyes” captures images of nature literally reflected in Cao’s eyes. His photographic gaze is insistent but illusory. Cao’s works invite viewers into a dialogue between the outer landscape and inner self.

Cao Yi (b. 1983) was born in China. He expects to receive a Master of Fine Arts degree from the New York Academy of Fine Art this May. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. In 2010, he was accepted to the Leipzig International Artist Residency Program in Germany. He is a recipient of several awards including a second prize award from the Central Academy of Fine Art, and first prize at the “The Annual Exhibition of Selected Students” at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Taku Saito’s self-portraits, at first glance, appear to be emotionless, yet, the sense of isolation and determination is evident. The facial structure in the portrait is fragmented, dissolved into dripping oil. Intriguingly, the influence of manga style, and reminiscences of adolescent struggles are embedded in the paintings. Saito uses his face as the motif to represent social portraits of ordinary, everyday lives, their unexpected distractions, chaotic incidents, and survival instincts.

Taku Saito is a New York based artist born in Japan. He studied painting at Tama Art University, and received his MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 2010. His work has been exhibited at the Steuben South Gallery in Brooklyn, and at Takiyama Gallery in Tokyo.

Haeri Yoo’s drawings and site-specific wall works explore human sexuality, bodily tensions, illicit thoughts and oppression. Yoo uses materials, including pencil, pastels, acrylic, handcrafted and found objects and spray paint as well as collage elements with an expressive energy.

Blurring the boundary between abstraction and figurative depiction, her work segregates and playfully mutates reality. Beauty and violence, light and dark are left in an inconclusive, disharmonious impasse.

Haeri Yoo, who was born in Korea, currently works and lives in New York City. She graduated from Pratt Institute with a MFA. Her work has been exhibited in a number of venues such as: Thomas Erben Gallery, New York; Monica de Cardenas Gallery, Milan; Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, MI; House of Campari, NY (curated by Simon Watson); Smith College Museum of Art Northampton, MA; and Queens Museum of Art. Most recently, her work was included in an exhibition at the Seoul Art Center and will be part of paint at the Saatchi Gallery, London. Her work has been discussed in the New York Times, Whitewall Magazine, the Brooklyn Rail, TimeOut Mumbai and Artkrush.

The female figures in Zhang Yu’s paintings share common appearances: light colored skin and dehumanized eyes against an illuminated background. Zhang’s use of snapshots, movie images, and magazine clips to depict a generic “female being” is an introspective process. Her exceptionally strong draftsmanship frees her to use canvas as the space where the intensity and complexities of the subject are brought forward. Zhang seeks the essence of human nature, which she believes can only be discovered within.

Zhang Yu was born in Beijing, China. She holds a MFA from both the Central Academy of Fine Art in China and the City College of New York. Zhang has received the Koan J. Baysa Award in 2008. She has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Japan and China including Nasu-Kougen Museum, Japan; International Arts Festival Shanghai, China; Walter Wickiser Gallery, Thomas Erben Gallery, Artists Space, Exit Art, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts and White Box in New York. Her work has been reviewed in several books including “New China, New Art” by Richard Vine.

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About NARS Foundation:

The NARS Foundation's mission is to provide a diverse platform for cultural exchange and collaboration among artists and curators. NARS provides an array of creative support services including cross-cultural exchanges, integrated residency programs and affordable studio spaces that support the needs of both emerging and mid-career artists. With a focus on international cultural exchange, the NARS Foundation is committed to supporting the creative professional development of artists and curators from around the world as well as community building through public programs that engage the local community in Brooklyn.