Paul Bennett embarked on his artistic career after graduating from the Surrey Institute of Art and Design in 2001. Initially falling into graphic design, Paul soon made the move from the corporate office to the art studio, which reignited his love of painting as “a more tactile way of creating”. Since then, Paul’s artistic journey has been a process of constant experimentation and discovery. Once a portrait painter, Paul has more recently turned to landscape paintings, primarily working on atmospheric seascapes and vast abstract vistas.
Ever since his turn from graphic design to fine art, Paul’s work has been shown constantly in exhibitions around the UK as well as internationally. In 2018, Paul’s solo show ‘The Light and the Darkness’ toured the UK and USA, showing in five different galleries in five months. The exhibition showcased some of Paul’s more dramatic and tonal paintings as he introduced bold reds and rich blues onto his canvases. Paul mostly paints from memories, and in this collection he recalls trips to the far-flung shores of Western Scotland and the Isle of Skye. In the same year, Paul also showed a selection of his seascape paintings at Affordable Art Fair, Gallery Different and Edinburgh Art Fair.
Prior to the success of his landscape and seascape paintings, Paul was known for his striking and visceral portraiture. Working from found images, Paul’s expressionist style formed raw and direct paintings. The unfinished quality of these paintings, as demonstrated in pieces such as The Long Goodbye and More Than Words communicates the singularity of the subject and the emotive tone of each portrait.
Andy Warhol
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