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Artist Exhibitions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Galleries:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Reviews:
Coming Soon!
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Collections:
Private Commisioned work:
Los Angeles
New York
Long Island
West Virginia
London
India
Canada: Toronto, Montreal,
Vancouver
Public Murals:
New York
Canada: Toronto, Montreal,
Vancouver
India: Calcutta, Vrindavan,
Delhi
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Further Information
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Statement for Reb Benno
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I was age 10 when my first art teacher, a native American lady, taught me to draw horses. She also painted her horses on cars. She always emphasized the importance of the 'line' in art and stressed that "the line is sacred, and when all lines finally come together, your art becomes perfection". Another teacher told me that there are 'no lines' in nature. I believe both ideas can be true. It depends on what the artist desires to believe.
There isn't really a universal standard in the infinite sea of ART. I have realized over the span of 35 years of studying art and producing it that all forms of art are subject only to our personal relationship with it, and the emotions it invokes. A beautiful piece of art may satisfy many visually, but it may not have any higher utility. For the artist, a picture, a story, a song, an act, a sculpture, a craft, architecture etc. are all expressions of the complex multifaceted human heart, which needs that outlet to relieve itself and to share all the emotions: love, fear, joy, pain, mystery, desire, beauty, anger, awe, dread, reverence, sorrow, ectasy, etc..
As I have always drawn and painted since my youth, I became familiar quickly with many styles and also the know-how of selling my art. So I only briefly attended Portland Community College, then Reed College in Oregon to study art, which was helpful to some degree. But it was never as important to me as the personal tutoring I recieved from three different freelance artists I met a few years later.
I traveled to New York, Amsterdam, London, Venice, Italy, Arabia and India spending my time painting and getting commisions to do murals, trompe l'oeil, ceilings in airbrush, and also oil portraits on canvas. Then in 1977 I was invited to stay at the Kings personal artisan's house in Rajasthan, India. I learned their sculpture methods and painting techniques in water colors which actually helped me later to lean more toward safer art materials.
I believe an artist's freedom to create without mundane motivations is the real source of quality artwork. The goal is the self-expression itself. And the reciprocation and sharing with others is the best reward of all.
I strongly advise all aspiring artists in all genres to concentrate on their own emotionalism with their art, but also realize the need for encouragement and inspiration from other artists old and new. And just as relevant are the observations of non-artists. (I'll never forget that 'Viewer's Choice' award I won in 1992 while the official judges, who didn't give it a second glance, just scratched their heads.)
I think every creature has creativity in them somewhere. We are all eternal students, one of my teachers explained. The learning process of creativity continues and the desire to know more creates rewarding experiences as you act on your knowledge.
It's been said "there is nothing new under the sun", but I believe whatever you can create is your own unique personal vision, your own original brand new storybook. Therefore, it's an artist's nature to try and create something new under the sun, to arrange the elements for the highest utility, which is to compliment nature's bounty, not to compete with it or destroy it.
Without sharing it with the world around you, art just remains a storybook in your own lap. That's why an artist's work eventually belongs to the whole world. And that's a wonderful thing. The artist's storybook becomes a chapter in the total story of creation. The artist's glory is in giving, to keep giving, and to keep on creating and sharing.
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