Ben Styer’s “Little Music Box Stories” Exhibition is a Visual Treasure Hunt

Within “Little Music Box Stories,” open now through December 6 at Shrine NYC, L.A.-based fine artist Ben Styer presents a series of painted works that collage colorful, poetic symbolism. In each work is a treasure hunt through collective memory and sensation. “It’s the joy of desktop clutter and junk drawers, the iconography of keepsakes, and the possibility of story within them,” Styer tells Surface.

As reflected here, Styer’s style—an amalgam of folk art, graphic design, cartoon, and, as he describes it, “fading souvenir aesthetic from the last 50 years”—maintains the wonder of his earlier works but demonstrates a thoughtful narrative development. From the large-scale centerpiece, Marriage, to the cleverness of Ampersand Tree and Desktop Hero, Styer seems to construct a world within which all of his acrylic-on-canvas pieces live.

Beneath the aesthetic dazzle is an invitation to gaze upon, step closer, and question what you see—or simply appreciate the hopefulness Styer depicts. Perhaps most intriguing is the sense that each work will only fully reveal itself over time; that to possess a piece would mean arriving upon a new chapter in its story with every glance. Styer appreciates the mysteriousness of some of his references, especially as they’re rooted in his personal experience.

“Little Music Box Stories” marks the latest in a series of visually and emotionally engaging exhibitions by the artist, who received his BFA from the University of Massachusetts in 2015. In 2021, Styer presented “Crystal Piano Rain,” a solo exhibition with Moskowitz Bayse, followed by 2023’s “Letters from the Black Hours.” In 2022, the Dallas Museum of Art acquired one of Styer’s pieces for its permanent collection—and 2023 saw the painter’s NADA Miami debut. With his ability to connect to viewers, and to leave space for interpretation and imagination, more solo exhibitions and museum acquisitions can be expected.