Anthony Bennett (Australian artist)
Encyclopedia
Anthony Bennett is an Australian artist born in Mackay Queensland in 1966. He has lived and worked in Tokyo, Rome and London and has exhibited nationally in Australia and internationally. He was a finalist in the Archibald Prize
in 2009 for the second year running and was also a finalist in both the Wynne and Sulman Prizes for 2009. In 2007 he was featured as one of the 'hot young queensland painters' interviewed on ABC TV's Sunday Arts programme and that year also won the renault new generation art award at Art Sydney. He has also been a finalist in the prestigious Conrad Jupiters Art Prize
, Sculpture by the Sea
, The Schubert Ulrick Photographic Awards and the Cromwell's Art Prize. In 2004 he was awarded a Bundanon
residency. Graduating from Griffith University Queensland College of Art
with a Bachelor of Visual Art and majors in painting and sculpture in 1999.
Described in Art & Australia in 2006 as, a "potent anti-corporate poet" by reviewer Vikki Riley, his work uses the language and imagery of the everyday, appropriating pop culture with grabs from advertising, cartoons, music and movie stars and references respectful and otherwise to art history. He refers as much to Kierkegaard and Camus as Kath and Kim. His imagery quotes from Willem de Kooning
, Andy Warhol
, Brett Whiteley
, Jean-Michel Basquiat
and Cy Twombly
. His titles are integral components and often mash words into the perceptive equation to play off the imagery, adding to the semantic game and augmenting the mood of dissent, while also revealing much about his practice. His work is contained in many private collections in Australia, New Zealand, Austria, China, Japan, Italy and England.Artist's folio site
then a discussion of the ideas those heavyweight thinkers have provided us is in play. If the viewer is only aware of the last Hollywood version of 'Superman', but not Nietzsche's version then that might be just as relevant to them, but not necessarily the end of the story...." says Bennett.
"I don't really like conversations about art," he continues "because I think art is a visual language in and of itself and when you learn that language properly, why talk over the top of it."
"Pop Cannibal is the term I use for it. The Tarantino
or Simpsons style mix and match of genres in equal parts homage and/or critique. Not always equal parts either, as nothing should be written in stone. It depends on mood, day of the week, the quality of the wine consumed etc."
Much of the work produced in that period he destroyed because he felt it was made more as a cathartic experience rather than something to be shown or used to derive income from.
, Henri Matisse, Reg Mombassa and Peter Garrett.
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
in 2009 for the second year running and was also a finalist in both the Wynne and Sulman Prizes for 2009. In 2007 he was featured as one of the 'hot young queensland painters' interviewed on ABC TV's Sunday Arts programme and that year also won the renault new generation art award at Art Sydney. He has also been a finalist in the prestigious Conrad Jupiters Art Prize
Conrad Jupiters Art Prize
The Conrad Jupiters Art Prize is an annual acquisitive exhibition run by the Gold Coast City Art Gallery in the city of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. One of Australia's oldest art prizes, it began in 1968.-Previous winners:*Adam Cullen...
, Sculpture by the Sea
Sculpture by the Sea
Sculpture by the Sea is a major annual outdoor sculpture exhibition that is open to the public for no cost, featuring sculptures made by Australian and international artists....
, The Schubert Ulrick Photographic Awards and the Cromwell's Art Prize. In 2004 he was awarded a Bundanon
Bundanon
Bundanon is a large home near Nowra, New South Wales, Australia. It was the home of the painter Arthur Boyd.-Description and history:Bundanon started as a single-storey weatherboard structure built circa 1840. In 1866, a two-storey sandstone house, made of locally quarried stone, was built...
residency. Graduating from Griffith University Queensland College of Art
Queensland College of Art
The Queensland College of Art is a specialist arts and design college located in South Bank, Brisbane, and Southport, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It was founded in 1881 and is the oldest arts institution in Australia....
with a Bachelor of Visual Art and majors in painting and sculpture in 1999.
Described in Art & Australia in 2006 as, a "potent anti-corporate poet" by reviewer Vikki Riley, his work uses the language and imagery of the everyday, appropriating pop culture with grabs from advertising, cartoons, music and movie stars and references respectful and otherwise to art history. He refers as much to Kierkegaard and Camus as Kath and Kim. His imagery quotes from Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Brett Whiteley
Brett Whiteley
Brett Whiteley, AO was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald Prize...
, Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
and Cy Twombly
Cy Twombly
Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly, Jr. was an American artist well known for his large-scale, freely scribbled, calligraphic-style graffiti paintings, on solid fields of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors...
. His titles are integral components and often mash words into the perceptive equation to play off the imagery, adding to the semantic game and augmenting the mood of dissent, while also revealing much about his practice. His work is contained in many private collections in Australia, New Zealand, Austria, China, Japan, Italy and England.Artist's folio site
Description of his influences
Bennett paints every day. Pop culture becomes the words that he uses to construct his artistic sentences. "If the viewer is aware of Freud or JungJung
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology.Jung may also refer to:* Jung * JUNG, Java Universal Network/Graph Framework-See also:...
then a discussion of the ideas those heavyweight thinkers have provided us is in play. If the viewer is only aware of the last Hollywood version of 'Superman', but not Nietzsche's version then that might be just as relevant to them, but not necessarily the end of the story...." says Bennett.
"I don't really like conversations about art," he continues "because I think art is a visual language in and of itself and when you learn that language properly, why talk over the top of it."
"Pop Cannibal is the term I use for it. The Tarantino
Tarantino
Tarantino is an Italian word meaning "originating from Taranto", the town in Apulia, south Italy. So it is used i.e. for gentilic of Taranto and for the Tarantino language.- People with the last name Tarantino :...
or Simpsons style mix and match of genres in equal parts homage and/or critique. Not always equal parts either, as nothing should be written in stone. It depends on mood, day of the week, the quality of the wine consumed etc."
Death of his mother and brother
The death of Bennett's mother and brother in a car accident made him introspective and pushed him to explore the philosophers of the past. He began to travel, heading to England for the first time.Much of the work produced in that period he destroyed because he felt it was made more as a cathartic experience rather than something to be shown or used to derive income from.
Stunt in Vatican City
In 1999, while living in Rome, Bennett carried out his first commando card installation. He placed over 120 postcards of nudes that he had produced in Australia, into the postcard racks of the Vatican Gift Shop. Aware of the strict security and the ever present Swiss Guard he pretended to be perusing the stacks and would take out one of the pope postcards for sale, look at it and then when he returned it to the stack, he would palm one of his own cards in behind it. One at a time until all were in place. He reasoned that once the outer cards were purchased by those on pilgrimage, his cards would be revealed in each slot, but not be purchased given the subject matter, and the postcard racks would slowly bloom into a postcard rack sculpture of his work, aided unwittingly by the compliance of the faithful Catholics.Cho Sagoi Desu Ne
In 2000 Bennett spent 2 years in Tokyo. He started photographing the people in the streets and the fashions and styles of youth culture that he saw there. The photographic exhibition 'tokyo lipstick' was the result, shown in Brisbane in 2002.Super Thanks for Asking
super thanks for asking is the title of an exhibition in 2007 that continues with the use of portraits and in particular "celebrity" that started some years ago, in which Bennett paints iconic figures in garish hues and against a single colour backdrop, with sardonic commentary scrawled in tiny text. Subjects include Andy Warhol, Brett Whiteley, Vincent Van Gogh, Queen Elizabeth II, Salvador DalíSalvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Henri Matisse, Reg Mombassa and Peter Garrett.