FALSE GUIDES
The Guild Room
January 24, 2025 – March 14, 2025
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.
RSVP for the opening reception on Friday, January 24, from 6pm to 9pm:
Click HERE for more information on gallery hours and private appointments.
FALSE GUIDES
The Guild Room
January 24, 2025 – March 14, 2025
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.
RSVP for the opening reception on Friday, January 24, from 6pm to 9pm:
Click HERE for more information on gallery hours and private appointments.
John Behnke (b.1991) makes paintings, drawings, and sculptures in which the ordinary and the fantastical are crossed. Familiar Chicago intersections become warped and rendered in paranormal colors – a palette of bright fluorescents and deep blues. Behnke’s take on the age-old tradition of landscape painting is a personal and irreverent mash-up. His environments often combine places imperfectly remembered from childhood, details from Google Street View, and pop-cultural artifacts like video game maps. “These places are like my playgrounds,” he explains.
Such settings often provide the stage for supernatural dramas. Past series have followed a race of hyper-intelligent squids fleeing a plague as well as the tale of Randolph, a peacock whose sense of insecurity becomes an engine of explosive physical growth. Behnke presents these stories in vignettes, compelling fragments of complex narratives. Over the past two years, his work has expanded into ceramics as well. Many of his otherworldly characters have boldly stepped into the third dimension, illuminated with vibrant glazes. “I get annoyed by the limitations of one medium,” he says.
Behnke lives in Oriole Park on the North Side of Chicago and works as a Fleet Service Clerk for American Airlines at O’Hare airport. He is an avid bird lover and dotes on his pet Caique parrot named Harpo. In 2011, Behnke joined Project Onward, a nonprofit studio that supports artists with mental health challenges and intellectual disabilities.
John Behnke (b.1991) makes paintings, drawings, and sculptures in which the ordinary and the fantastical are crossed. Familiar Chicago intersections become warped and rendered in paranormal colors – a palette of bright fluorescents and deep blues. Behnke’s take on the age-old tradition of landscape painting is a personal and irreverent mash-up. His environments often combine places imperfectly remembered from childhood, details from Google Street View, and pop-cultural artifacts like video game maps. “These places are like my playgrounds,” he explains.
Such settings often provide the stage for supernatural dramas. Past series have followed a race of hyper-intelligent squids fleeing a plague as well as the tale of Randolph, a peacock whose sense of insecurity becomes an engine of explosive physical growth. Behnke presents these stories in vignettes, compelling fragments of complex narratives. Over the past two years, his work has expanded into ceramics as well. Many of his otherworldly characters have boldly stepped into the third dimension, illuminated with vibrant glazes. “I get annoyed by the limitations of one medium,” he says.
Behnke lives in Oriole Park on the North Side of Chicago and works as a Fleet Service Clerk for American Airlines at O’Hare airport. He is an avid bird lover and dotes on his pet Caique parrot named Harpo. In 2011, Behnke joined Project Onward, a nonprofit studio that supports artists with mental health challenges and intellectual disabilities.
