N° 18-2G.25

Aric Ben Simon

49” x 3 9”

Acrylic on Burnt Wood

In N° 18-2G.25, Aric Ben Simon presents a powerful meditation on balance forged through tension. The work begins with an act of destruction. Wood is burned using a process inspired by traditional yakisugi, leaving behind a charred surface marked by cracks, fissures, and the visible memory of fire. Burnt wood functions as both material and subject, recording time, heat, and physical force before any gesture of order is introduced.

Against this darkened ground, Ben Simon applies carefully calibrated geometric forms in muted yellow and deep red. Their softened edges and measured placement establish a quiet rhythm across the surface. The geometry does not dominate the burned wood but enters into dialogue with it, offering moments of stability without erasing the violence of the initial process. Chaos and control coexist, each sharpening the presence of the other.

The work recalls postwar material abstraction and the legacy of artists such as Alberto Burri, whose scarred surfaces treated damage as meaning, while also engaging the clarity of modernist and Constructivist geometry. Ben Simon’s approach bridges these traditions, using form as a way to negotiate uncertainty rather than resolve it.

Presented as part of Mash Gallery’s group exhibition Rhythmic Contours, N° 18-2G.25 extends the exhibition’s inquiry into rhythm beyond line and gesture into surface, structure, and process. Rhythm emerges through the cadence of cracks in the wood and the deliberate spacing of shapes, creating a visual pulse rooted in material history.

This work speaks to collectors drawn to concept-driven abstraction, natural materials, and the dialogue between destruction and renewal. N° 18-2G.25 stands as a quiet assertion that order is not the absence of chaos, but a response shaped in its presence.