Fletcher Benton
Encyclopedia
Fletcher Benton is a kinetic art
ist from San Francisco, California
.
, Oxford, Ohio with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1956. From 1964 to 1967 he taught at the San Francisco Art Institute and taught as an associate professor and then professor of art at San Jose State University
from 1967-1986.
Fletcher Benton is known for his kinetic sculptures which are sculptures that move.
But, he began his career as an abstractionist painter in the 1950s and 1960s.
Frustrated with the limitations of paint on canvas, Benton began work on movement with geometric pattern pieces and boxes which he was familiar with from his work in commercial signs.
This was at the beginning of the kinetic movement, and Benton worked largely in isolation, unaware of other efforts of kinetic artists.
The early works were more concerned with change, rather than movement.
The pieces were really more like three-dimensional paintings. Full three-dimensional sculptures designed to be viewed from all angles came later and the movement of the pieces became less prevalent in his later works.
In the late 1970s, he abandoned kinetic art, switching to a more traditional bronze and steel.
His work is included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art
, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
, Stanford Museum of Art, Hirschhorn Museum, the Denver Art Museum
, and the DeCordova Sculpture Museum.
's Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.
Kinetic art
Kinetic art is art that contains moving parts or depends on motion for its effect. The moving parts are generally powered by wind, a motor or the observer. Kinetic art encompasses a wide variety of overlapping techniques and styles.-Kinetic sculpture:...
ist from San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
Life
He graduated from Miami UniversityMiami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
, Oxford, Ohio with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1956. From 1964 to 1967 he taught at the San Francisco Art Institute and taught as an associate professor and then professor of art at San Jose State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...
from 1967-1986.
Fletcher Benton is known for his kinetic sculptures which are sculptures that move.
But, he began his career as an abstractionist painter in the 1950s and 1960s.
Frustrated with the limitations of paint on canvas, Benton began work on movement with geometric pattern pieces and boxes which he was familiar with from his work in commercial signs.
This was at the beginning of the kinetic movement, and Benton worked largely in isolation, unaware of other efforts of kinetic artists.
The early works were more concerned with change, rather than movement.
The pieces were really more like three-dimensional paintings. Full three-dimensional sculptures designed to be viewed from all angles came later and the movement of the pieces became less prevalent in his later works.
In the late 1970s, he abandoned kinetic art, switching to a more traditional bronze and steel.
His work is included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
, Stanford Museum of Art, Hirschhorn Museum, the Denver Art Museum
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum is an art museum in Denver, Colorado located in Denver's Civic Center.It is known for its collection of American Indian art,and has a comprehensive collection numbering more than 68,000 works from across the world....
, and the DeCordova Sculpture Museum.
Awards
In 2008, Fletcher Benton was a recipient of the International Sculpture CenterInternational Sculpture Center
The International Sculpture Center is a 5013 nonprofit organization founded in 1960. It is located on the old New Jersey Fairground in Hamilton, New Jersey...
's Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.
External links
- Official Website of the artist
- Fletcher Benton, Artnet