Hi Jodi,

Nationally recognized poster artist Thomas Benton visually documented the issues and conflicts of Aspen and America for four decades beginning in the turbulent late 1960s. 

Two years after Benton's death in 2007, Daniel J. Watkins embarked on a journey "into the barns and basements and attics of old Aspen," according to the Aspen Daily News, to unearth and catalog more than five hundred of his works, many of them previously unknown and unpublished.

The result is "THOMAS W. BENTON: ARTIST/ACTIVIST," a coffee-table book that chronicles the life and political activism of the artist with 150 images of his work. 

ARTIST/ACTIVIST follows Benton from his early days in Aspen, which he considered a kind of Shangri-la threatened by money and development, through his disillusionment with politics and experimentation with different art forms.

Cataloging political movements and elections from 1968 to 2006, Benton's silkscreen posters are a powerful visual account of the issues and campaigns that shaped history. In addition to numerous candidates and issues in Aspen, Benton created political posters for presidential candidates George McGovern and Gary Hart.

ARTIST/ACTIVIST includes images of the Aspen Wallposters, a collaboration of Benton's art and Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson's writing that promoted their Freak Power movement. 

Also featured are ten poems by close friend and lyricist Joe Henry, a foreword by George S. Stranahan, and an introduction by art history professor Hal Elliott Wert. 

Please contact me directly if you would like to receive a review copy of "THOMAS W. BENTON: ARTIST/ACTIVIST" or to speak with author Daniel Joseph Watkins. We're also happy to provide images of Mr. Benton's work.






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