Aimez-vous les uns les autres 1992

Ben made this painting sometime around 1992, spelling out in his signature hand, 'Aimez-vous les uns les autres'. The words, white against black, look as though they have been written with chalk on a blackboard. It’s a deceptively simple image, but I find myself drawn to the uneven texture of the surface and the slight variations in the width of the brushstrokes. There’s something really charming about the imperfect quality of the lettering. The whole thing feels so immediate and intimate. Like he's sharing something deeply personal with the world. There is a confidence and a kind of defiant, punky attitude in the directness of Ben’s message, something I also see in the work of artists like Sister Corita Kent, who used the language of advertising to spread messages of peace and love. Ultimately, I find a piece like this so affecting because it holds a space for both hope and doubt, knowing and not knowing. A call to action and an open question.