Ascendency—love over strife: Ben Smith

All is revealed in Ben Smith’s exhibition title, Ascendency—Love over Strife, for in Smiths’ eyes, love is marching towards a phase of primacy in its constant battle to prevail over strife. In this body of work, Smith presents a wonderfully curious and romantic evocation of our deepest desires and of where we yearn to be. He offers us an opportunity to escape the complexities of contemporary life in search of utopia.

In the fifth century BCE, Empedocles described a world underpinned by love and strife; love being the force that unites—that mixes, blends and combines, and strife being the counterforce that separates. For Empedocles, it is love and strife that make the universe so dynamic as these cosmic forces engage in an eternal oscillation. In his exhibition—and heavily influenced by Empedocles’ philosophy—Smith shifts our focus to moments where we run wild under the total dominance of love. He allows our consciousness to escape from the real to the idyllic. These moments of cathartic release are expressed overtly; there is a palpable sense of relief for lovers plunging into pools or fleeing into an Edenic wilderness. Even the humble Kombi van offers a romantic escape route to a place of hope that is unshackled from contemporary anxieties. Smith reminds us that, in this very moment, the universe is in a state of play where love can transcend all.

The artist seduces us into his surreal reverie—a dream state where mystery and reality conflate. We enter landscapes where ethereal figures defy notions of gravity and illusions of space are paramount. It is in this ambiguous half-light that strange, yet beautiful, imaginings occur. Here, Smith conveys a strong sense of divine intervention where wonder and communion are on the rise. We are invited into a world of love, passion and ecstasy, both physical and spiritual.