Fear

Ben Mosca’s "Fear" is a highly conceptual and intricate work on paper in the tradition of Basquiat.  The complexity of all human emotion is staggering; like time, emotion is not linear but weblike. Often, we can trace fear back to a person or event, but what emotions and situations brought the fear-inspiring people and experiences into being? Every experience we have, every tradition and prejudice we inherit, every bit of culture we consume, every environment we inhabit create a labyrinthine patchwork of rational and irrational concerns that produce the conditions of all our anxieties. Mosca maps out everything from places he’s lived, books he’s read (I would highly recommend "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"; it certainly rings true to me), disappointments, and even villains to describe the central and universal word: "FEAR". He describes many fears but does not separate them; no matter how disparate, they all connect. Compartmentalizing our fears is simply a way to avoid addressing them. This work truly challenges the viewer; the greatest thing an artwork can do.