“As the days go by,” the first solo show by Ben Arpéa in Switzerland, assembles fifteen semi-representational paintings that play with the perception of time using three basic motifs—sun, sky, and horizon—alongside six sculptures that mirror these recurring elements and do the same. Thematically, the paintings focus on bright summer days; they depict no shade at all, imbuing, imbuing the scenes with a surreal temporality. Conversely, the slim, vertical sculptures cast shadows around the gallery like sundials, anchored to a particular place and moment.
Arpéa’s abstracted environs provide a calm, soothing recess from the hectic noise and drudgery of everyday life. His pictures prescribe the quiet joy of a Mediterranean breeze (Cypress alley, all works 2023), the scent of lush citrus (Orange tree), the promising cool of a swimming pool (Tuscan landscape), the pleasure of eating outside (Summer morning). Each evokes the daydream of an endless vacation, inciting a longing for sorbet or a spontaneous trip to the beach.
Humans are nowhere to be found on this holiday, save for in the show’s namesake work, a looping animated video that maps the sun’s movement over the course of twenty-four hours, which features an occasional promenader taking a slow walk, as well as a couple of birds that fly across the screen, adding life to the still scenery. Meanwhile, Into the wild, 2023, a six-meter-long diptych made with acrylic, oil, and sand on linen, fills up the largest wall on the gallery’s second floor. Are we looking at dawn, or is night approaching? The artist keeps it ambiguous, divorcing the sun’s position from the human concept of time.
— Vojin Saša Vukadinovi?