Ben Borden and Zoe Koke:
Palingenesis
02.15.25 - 03.22.25
︎Checklist
︎Checklist
Our landscape is in flux. In the work of Zoe Koke and Ben Borden, greens
and blues ooze into one another fighting for dominance. The atmosphere
is a playground, churning the raw material of the primordial soup we
inhabit. Rock and air and fire, the elements scramble in the chaotic
process of formation, fragmentation, and regeneration. Nothing is lost, the
whispers of something ancient are merely buried beneath geological layers.
Koke’s canvas and Borden’s algae polymer stained glass are windows into
the world’s process, portals that blur the line between origin and horizon.
In Borden’s work, 3D modeling software spits out machined biomorphic
forms framing chemical reactions adhered to glass. Light pours through as
if streaking the surface of an algae-covered pond.
Borden grew up in Texas, Koke in Canada. Their first show together took place in 2018, another gallery space filled with apocalyptic abstractions. Both artists produce highly sculptural work—springing forth from their mounted position even when hung on a wall. Paint accumulates like layers of sediment, chalky and worked over, pulled into something new. There’s an opacity to their work, kinetic and bright even as they archive a series of elemental reactions. Without a gallery guide it would be easy to mistake these materials as entirely organic. Koke’s paintings flirt with crimson lava, minerally forest, emerald mountain, and violet air. There’s a violence to her brushstrokes, a furious sky erupting into swirling browns and tenuous puffs of white. Sometimes minimalism can reflect the post-industrial cityscape through bras moments of dappled color, shimmering with angelic highlights amidst stormy skyscapes.
In the wake of such scale, it can be difficult to have faith in the passage of time. Eruptions give way to vitally enriched soil. Borden’s work confronts the tedium of patience head on, his works will continually evolve and change even after they’re hung on a wall. The careful work of an alchemist, potassium ferrocyanide, algae and glycerin will continue to shift as time ticks on. Light, too, will be a chemical agent as Borden’s pieces continue to bubble and react.
“I collect ephemera,” Koke says of her own work. Like her parents, she studies geology... metamorphosis, and survival. Whether obliquely referencing agates or the womb of a volcano, Koke’s paintings are like shields in the middle of detonations. Rocks can provide shelter during the tumult of the battlefield. There’s something dreamy, visceral, and mythological about her work. The show’s title, Palingenesis, refers to rebirth, or recreation. Sometimes the word is used to denote an exact replication of a previous generation. There's stability even in geological chaos. No two eruptions will be the same, but we can always count on another. This is a palliative way to view time, not just as cyclical (kyklos), but as kairos, a powerful intervention that occurs at just the right moment. There may never be another event like this. Pay attention.
Written By Grace Byron
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Zoe Koke (b. 1989, Calgary, AB, Canada) received her MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles, CA (2019) and her BFA from Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada (2013). Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include: 12.26, Dallas, TX (2025); april april, Pittsburgh, PA (2024); Smart Objects, Los Angeles, CA (2024, 2023, 2018); Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland (2023); Alice Amati, London, U.K. (2023); Washer/Dryer Projects (2019) among others. Recent group exhibitions include: Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Sarah Brook Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland (2024); room 3557, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Franz Kaka, Toronto, ON, Canada (2024); Lindon & Co., London, U.K. (2023); One Trick Pony, Los Angeles, CA (2021); Ochi Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2020); Insect Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2019) among others.
Ben Borden (b.1985, Corpus Christi, TX) received his MS in Environmental Design from ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA (2018). Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include: 12.26, Dallas, TX (2025); NOON Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2022, 2024); As It Stands, Los Angeles, CA (2019); Smart Objects, Los Angeles, CA (2018); among others. Borden’s work was featured in the North American Pavilion, presented by Frieze, London, U.K. (2023). Borden collaborated with designer Elise Co in designing a sculpture for Jason Wu’s Spring 2025 Ready-To-Wear collection.
Borden grew up in Texas, Koke in Canada. Their first show together took place in 2018, another gallery space filled with apocalyptic abstractions. Both artists produce highly sculptural work—springing forth from their mounted position even when hung on a wall. Paint accumulates like layers of sediment, chalky and worked over, pulled into something new. There’s an opacity to their work, kinetic and bright even as they archive a series of elemental reactions. Without a gallery guide it would be easy to mistake these materials as entirely organic. Koke’s paintings flirt with crimson lava, minerally forest, emerald mountain, and violet air. There’s a violence to her brushstrokes, a furious sky erupting into swirling browns and tenuous puffs of white. Sometimes minimalism can reflect the post-industrial cityscape through bras moments of dappled color, shimmering with angelic highlights amidst stormy skyscapes.
In the wake of such scale, it can be difficult to have faith in the passage of time. Eruptions give way to vitally enriched soil. Borden’s work confronts the tedium of patience head on, his works will continually evolve and change even after they’re hung on a wall. The careful work of an alchemist, potassium ferrocyanide, algae and glycerin will continue to shift as time ticks on. Light, too, will be a chemical agent as Borden’s pieces continue to bubble and react.
“I collect ephemera,” Koke says of her own work. Like her parents, she studies geology... metamorphosis, and survival. Whether obliquely referencing agates or the womb of a volcano, Koke’s paintings are like shields in the middle of detonations. Rocks can provide shelter during the tumult of the battlefield. There’s something dreamy, visceral, and mythological about her work. The show’s title, Palingenesis, refers to rebirth, or recreation. Sometimes the word is used to denote an exact replication of a previous generation. There's stability even in geological chaos. No two eruptions will be the same, but we can always count on another. This is a palliative way to view time, not just as cyclical (kyklos), but as kairos, a powerful intervention that occurs at just the right moment. There may never be another event like this. Pay attention.
Written By Grace Byron
---------------------------
Zoe Koke (b. 1989, Calgary, AB, Canada) received her MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles, CA (2019) and her BFA from Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada (2013). Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include: 12.26, Dallas, TX (2025); april april, Pittsburgh, PA (2024); Smart Objects, Los Angeles, CA (2024, 2023, 2018); Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland (2023); Alice Amati, London, U.K. (2023); Washer/Dryer Projects (2019) among others. Recent group exhibitions include: Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Sarah Brook Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland (2024); room 3557, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Franz Kaka, Toronto, ON, Canada (2024); Lindon & Co., London, U.K. (2023); One Trick Pony, Los Angeles, CA (2021); Ochi Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2020); Insect Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2019) among others.
Ben Borden (b.1985, Corpus Christi, TX) received his MS in Environmental Design from ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA (2018). Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include: 12.26, Dallas, TX (2025); NOON Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2022, 2024); As It Stands, Los Angeles, CA (2019); Smart Objects, Los Angeles, CA (2018); among others. Borden’s work was featured in the North American Pavilion, presented by Frieze, London, U.K. (2023). Borden collaborated with designer Elise Co in designing a sculpture for Jason Wu’s Spring 2025 Ready-To-Wear collection.