Residency
We’d like to interview you—and paint your portrait—at the same time. Painter Ben Fine and journalist Tris McCall come at you from two angles at once: words and pigment, spirited conversation and visual impression. We’re inviting you to sit in the pink armchair at the center of Ben Fine’s celebrated portrait practice as your story and likeness are captured simultaneously in conversation and paint.
Of course we mean to film it, too. Once we’re finished, we’ll present the portrait and the video together in a single, unified exhibition that will also include interviews and paintings of other fascinating people who’ve sat for us.
Living Archive
What will emerge is a dual portrayal–deeper, more multifaceted, and more ambitious than words or images can manage on their own.
Our aim is to create a living archive of the experiences, methods, and personal histories of creative people coping with life in 2026, fostering a sense of connection so that both the sitters and the viewers of The Pink Armchair Portraits can recognize themselves in one another.
The Pink Armchair Portraits will be shown to the public in early May at Project 14C, a creative incubator and experimental studio complex in Jersey City’s Powerhouse Arts District. Interviews and sittings will also be conducted at Project 14C.
The Plan
Who are we ?
Ben Fine
ArtistBen Fine is the co-founder of Studio Iodyne, an acclaimed Brooklyn animation studio, and multidisciplinary artist who has shown his work all over the globe. His Pink Armchair Portraits series of paintings captures friends, family, and strangers in interconnected compositions exploring individuality and collective presence.
Tris McCall is an experienced interviewer who has fashioned conversations with politicians, community organizers, showrunners, and other decision makers into articles that make the priorities and motivations of his subjects manifest for readers.
Eye Level, his website dedicated to the examination of Jersey City visual arts, is funded by an Andy Warhol Arts Writers Grant.
JournalistTris McCall
Where?
Project 14C is an arts residency program created by the organizers of Art Fair 14C, the largest annual arts gathering in the Garden State. The 14C residency open houses have become essential events on the Jersey City cultural calendar.
Directions
Subway
By PATH: take the PATH to Grove Street. Exit to Marin Blvd and walk 2 blocks, north on Marin Blvd, turn right on 1st Street Project 14C is on 1st Street between Marin and Provost.
To 14C by car:
GPS: 157 1st Street, Jersey City NJ 07302
Would you like to participate?
We will begin conducting interview / portrait session from March 1st until May 10
Each session will last approximately 1.5 hours
We are looking for storytellers and communicators