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Benjamin Larose

Professor, Adjunct

Contact

Professional Site

Bio

Benjamin Larose is a Québécois artist and Professor, Adjunct at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, SAIC. Larose holds a Master of Design in Fashion, Body and Garment from SAIC and a Bachelor of Media Arts from Emily Carr University in Vancouver, Canada.

Since coming to Chicago in 2014, Larose was the recipient of the New Artist Society Scholarship and the RumChata Foundation Fellowship. In 2017-18, Larose participated in the BOLT residency program at the Chicago Artists Coalition. He subsequently presented three solo exhibitions in two years, including a solo booth at EXPO Chicago 2018. In 2019, Larose was named Breakout Artist by Chicago’s NewCity Magazine. The same year, he won second prize in Miami University’s Young Sculptors Competition. His visual art work was presented in several group exhibitions across the Midwest at venues such as 6018|North, Ralph Arnold Gallery, Chicago Cultural Center, Illinois State Museum Art Gallery, Hiestand Gallery, Lubeznik Center, and John Michael Kohler Art Center.

In 2021, Larose was awarded a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts for the creation of his performance project: NOT AMERICAN. The Canada Council for the Arts is among the most prestigious awards for Canadian artists. NOT AMERICAN completed a successful premiere run at Chicago’s prestigious Steppenwolf Theater in June 2023. It was followed by a second run at Chicago’s The Den Theatre in June 2024 and a first international presentation at the CINARS Conference held in Montreal, Canada in November 2024.

Awards

Larose has received awards and funding from the city of Chicago, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the Canada Council for the Arts. He was also the recipient of the second prize in the William and Dorothy Yeck Award—Young Sculptors Competition, and was named among the Breakout Artists 2019 by NewCity Magazine.

Personal Statement

My practice is as dynamic as I am as a person. It resists tidy definitions and being neatly categorized. There are edges that somewhat delineate this practice, but I am constantly pushing, lifting, and unfolding these edges. My work belongs in a heavily material practice, even though sometimes the work only lives as time-based media. I stack video edits and stories, just as much as I stack found objects in my studio. Visual references, pop culture moments and imaginary characters live alongside the stuff I pick up in thrift stores. I find great freedom in cultivating spontaneity, free association, and a little non-sense. This is what enables me to simultaneously collect wood carvings of raccoons AND put on a wig and film myself pretending to be Leonardo DiCaprio. The space between is where I thrive. 

Work

 

Vimeo

Benjamin Larose, NOT AMERICAN - Trailer, 2024, video trailer

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

Explorations in the design of 'experimental' garments using the basic elements of mass, volume, form and motion. Rather than concerning themselves with current design trends or regular fashion problems, students emphasize bodies as forms in motion or as moving sculpture.

Class Number

1414

Credits

3

Description

Explorations in the design of 'experimental' garments using the basic elements of mass, volume, form and motion. Rather than concerning themselves with current design trends or regular fashion problems, students emphasize bodies as forms in motion or as moving sculpture.

Class Number

1381

Credits

3

Description

This course cultivates a conceptual and interdisciplinary approach to fashion. Through experimentations in object-making, students will engage with traditional and non-traditional materials and processes to question how objects can engage the body. Emphasis will be placed on function through the exploration of constructive processes and placement to body and space.

The course is divided in four topical sections: technique meets body, power in wearability, conceptual artifacts and material matters. Students will be introduced to artists who's work is generally associated with other disciplines but engages fashion, body and garment. For example, artists such as Leigh Bowery, Rebecca Belmore, Brian Jungen, Isa Genzken, and the readings/screenings will vary but may include Susan Sontag's Notes on Camp, Malcolm Gladwell's The Cool Hunt or Robert Friedel's Zipper: An Exploration in Novelty.

Course work involves four major projects, one for each topical section, as well as in-class discussions, reading responses and presentations. The occasional field trip and follow up in-class discussion can also be included.

Class Number

1383

Credits

3

Description

What are the concerns that drive one's creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? Sophomore Seminar offers strategies for students to explore, reflect upon, and connect common themes and interests in the development of an emerging creative practice that will serve as the basis of their ongoing studies at SAIC and beyond. Students will examine historical and contemporary influences and contextualize their work in relation to the diverse art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary each semester. Presentations by visiting artists and guest speakers will provide the opportunity for students to hear unique perspectives on sustaining a creative practice. One-on-one meetings with faculty will provide students with individualized mentorship throughout the semester. During interdisciplinary critiques, students will explore a variety of formats and tools to analyze work and provide peer feedback. The class mid-term project asks students to imagine a plan for their creative life and devise a self-directed course of study for their time at school. The course concludes with an assignment asking students to develop and document a project or body of work demonstrating how the interplay of ideas, technical skills, and formal concerns evolve through iteration, experimentation and revision.

Prerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll.

Class Number

2215

Credits

3

Description

This advanced level course examines the transformation of form and identity with the body. Particular emphasis will be placed on challenging the literal definition of garment through various processes such as draping, deconstruction and reuse. Students will explore scale and materials from hard to soft, flexible and rigid. Projects using found objects and alternative resources will also be introduced. Through various assignments, students will be encouraged to expand outside the common solution, using unfamiliar territories, placing them in new context. Several projects are assigned involving individual and group critiques with development of personal direction related to contemporary issues. Parallel development in sculptural practices and design will also be examined to see the emerging context of garment as art.

Class Number

2244

Credits

3