By Alicia Eler

Saying "Ben Butler works with systems" is somewhat of a generalization, but it's a good, accurate one. Especially with this new body of work, Butler creates systematically, almost methodically, to churn out geometric wooden sculptures. The paintings he makes by the same hand, however, are another story. Okay, so sometimes with proven mathematical formulas like the slope intercept form y = mx + b, it's great to know that things will always come out as planned every single time. But other times, that same formula can become tediously boring. And so it is with Ben Butler's artwork: it is at once formulaically beautiful and, at times, systematically dull.

Let's start with perhaps the most visually engaging piece in this show: Furrow. Made completely of red and yellow cedar, this piece stretches 44 inches tall by 74 inches wide by 7 inches deep and looks like sediments of various rocks under the earth, or a curvaceously sculpted canyon-side, or ripples in a topographic map of the world. Or perhaps it's just a big, long gathering of furrows, as the title suggests. Regardless, the calming ripples of this piece must have taken Butler long hours to sculpt—and many more to layer atop of the next. Another aspect that takes the eye wandering with this piece is the way that each furrow begins chunky at the top, becoming narrow toward the middle, and then spreading out again at the bottom. Each ripple seems to have distinct characteristics—even a personality—making it hard to stop starring.

BEN BUTLER, Furrow
red and yellow cedar, 2008
44"h. x 7"d. x 74"l
Courtesy: Zg Gallery, Chicago

Untitled, which sits nearby on the floor (Furrow is perched on the wall), is also made entirely of cedar. It's fat oval shape and rounded little plates make it look like a tortoise shell. Using the fair, light-colored cedar once again, Butler crafts variously sized wooden pieces and then piles them all together into this circular, sculptural piece. The viewer should try and look on the smoother side; the opposite side of this piece is a compilation of the rougher ends of the same sticks. Complimenting Furrow, the strong pair forms a handsome duo of well-crafted, three-dimensional art objects.

BEN BUTLER, Untitled
(Image: front & back)
cedar, 2008
33"h. x 21.5"d. x 47"w.
Courtesy: Zg Gallery, Chicago

But where Butler's sculptural wooden pieces succeed, his woodblock monoprints look like blasé afterthoughts. Or, better yet, perhaps they are studies for the beautiful sculptures. In Fabrication 1, a woodblock monoprint, Butler prints wood-colored slabs in rows, creating a three-dimensional element on a two-dimensional canvas. But why not just create the three-dimensional piece using actual wood? From a curatorial perspective, this would have been a nice continuation of the theme that Butler was already working with.

BEN BUTLER, Fabrication #1
woodblock monoprint, mounted to panel, 2008
43"h. x 59.5"w
Courtesy: Zg Gallery, Chicago

Similarly, Untitled Woodblock Monoprint is a seemingly far-stretching field of wood-colored criss-crosses; again, this looks like a study for a sculpture, or just an uninspired print. Fabrication 3 continues this pattern, but the actual shapes vary slightly. Here, the three-dimensional patterns look like a sea of little pyramids seen from above. Fabrication 2 gets wild with curvy, trippy looking ripples of black and cream. Okay, the formula is getting old, man.

But just when the woodblock prints get too repetitive, the eye wanders back again to Untitled and Furrow—both pieces glean with a masterful, detail-oriented eye for carving, shaping, shifting and, most importantly, creating. Perhaps their forms could even be found in nature which, if so, brings yet another layer of beauty into this basement gallery space.

Ben Butler at ZG Gallery continues until April 18. Gallery Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information call (312)654-9900.