Pink Armchair Portraits
How it started
The Pink Armchair Portrait Project began during COVID, when painter Ben Fine, searching for connection amid isolation, spent 18 months creating twelve portraits of friends and family—sometimes separated by plexiglass. The pink armchair emerged as both symbol and stage: a worn, mid-century, living-room recliner anchoring each portrait in a shared physical setting. Seated in the same chair, each sitter occupies a space that is at once communal and deeply personal, revealing subtle threads of connection between strangers while allowing every individual to inhabit their own distinct emotional universe. First exhibited together in a grid, the portraits generated unexpected visual and emotional resonances, highlighting individuality within a common framework and affirming the resilience and vitality of collective human presence.
Taking it on the road
Since then, The Pink Armchair Portraits has grown into an ambitious, evolving series—an ever-expanding constellation of friends, acquaintances, artists, writers, and chance encounters. One chair, one sitter, one moment at a time, it gathers fragments of humanity into a single living work. Rooted in Jersey City, the project has recently evolved into a new iteration: live, expressive Sharpie portraits drawn in under seven minutes. As it begins to travel beyond the city, the Pink Armchair Project continues to expand its archive, deepening its portrait of everyday humanity.
Residency
Artist Ben Fine will team up with journalist Tris McCall to interview and paint each participant at the same time, with the entire process recorded on video. Together, they approach each sitter from two angles at once: words and pigment, conversation and visual impression. Seated in the pink armchair at the heart of Fine’s celebrated portrait practice, each participant’s story and likeness are captured simultaneously through dialogue and paint.
Olivia Neel
A chance to paint Alice Neel’s grandaughter…
Grant
Deconstruction of the armchair to travel…