Bennett Slater

Here’s my contribution to “Guillermo Del Toro: In Service of Monsters”, curated by Chogrin and Gary Deocampo, which opened this weekend at Gallery 1988 West in LA. This piece pays homage to Del Toro’s flawless, 2001 Spanish film “El Espinazo Del Diablo” or “The Devil’s Backbone”. I experimented with something a little different on this one- painting a traditional portrait, then washing everything out to give off the feeling that the piece is submerged in formaldehyde. From a proper viewing distance, I didn’t want the spectral face to be immediately visible, but seemingly appear through the murk. Chogrin and Gary Deocampo put together a stellar show, which was even attended by the legend himself, Guillermo Del Toro. Excitement!

A while back, I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute to the official art show promoting the first Avengers film. Three years later, somehow the nine realms have aligned and I find myself creating a piece for the sequel! I’m super excited to share my new piece from “Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron Art Showcase” presented by Marvel and Hero Complex Gallery in LA. The show opened April 25, a week before the North American premiere of the film, and boasts some CRAZY talent! With a tight deadline, an official character likeness revision process, and my own foolish ambition to portray all NINE heroes from the upcoming film, I managed to pull things together, only sacrificing all the sleep in the process. As far as process goes- with every next painting I try to push myself to experiment with something I haven’t before. This time around, it was veeery small portraits (Thor’s head is the size of a nickel), and hitting the exact specs of the current costumes, on such small figures. Normally I work very loosely in the beginning, until the final stages when I can tighten everything up and solve the tiny details. With this, I basically had to tackle the smallest details of Ironman’s, Cap’s and Thor’s costumes FIRST, then try to keep to working loose around them. It was a challenging lesson in spec work and attention to detail, but TOTALLY worth it to be a part of this show and to work with Marvel on any capacity. For info on the show, and inquiries about purchase, please contact Hero Complex Gallery, HERE.

Here’s my contribution to Phone Booth Gallery’s 7th anniversary show. As an avid enthusiast of ancient Egyptian mythology, I was excited to tackle one of my favourite myths. This piece alludes to the life of the Egyptian goddess, Isis and the myth of the 7 deadly scorpions that protect her. Big thanks to Phone Booth Gallery for having me be a part of such a landmark, and congratulations on 7 years!

Here's my contribution to this years Crazy 4 Cult show at Gallery 1988 in LA. This will now have been the second time I've tackled the work of my favourite director, Stanley Kubrick- my first being last year's 2001: A Space Odyssey inspired piece. This time I chose to pay tribute to his 1972 masterpiece, A Clockwork Orange. Seen here is Lucy, a milk maiden at the Korova Milk bar. The house recommends you try the Milk-Plus.

My album re-imagining of Neil Young's 1972 album, Harvest. The album cover was created for Gallery 1988's "Thirty-Three & A Third" show, featuring over a hundred artists re-creating their favourite album covers. Harvest has always been a sentimental album for me, having grown up in Canada, with frequent getaways to northern Ontario; getting to experience the otherworldly sense of seclusion and reflection that lingers there. The album tackles the subjects of death, addiction, abandonment- but also beauty, escape, discovery and remembrance. I tried to handle all of those in my album design. Instructions for proper listening: Hit play and head north, preferably at dusk.

Opening tonight is "Pop 2 Action" at Hero Complex Gallery in LA. This is a charity art event put on by the Gratitude Collaborative, where 50 artists (including yours truly) present a new piece featuring something in pop culture we're grateful for. I chose to cover a game that, next to eating and sleeping, saw most of my youthful hours poured into. I had an incredible amount of fun throwing little details all over this thing, and the task becomes yours to.. *excited giggle*... catch'em all! The show opens tonight, Nov. 7 and only runs until Sunday, Nov. 9. Also, in this rare occasion, there will be full 18" x 24" PRINTS. PRINTS, I SAY! Make sure not to miss out, and give back for charity!

A few snaps of the later process on a new piece I'll be dropping next week. There will be prints! Program Nov. 7 into your Pokédex..

The show opens this Halloween night at Auguste Clown Gallery in Fitzroy, Australia. The show runs until November 23.

Bennett Slater Here's my contribution to Gallery 1988's Joss Whedon tribute show. After much star-gazing, I made the decision to pay homage to a classic moment from our beloved Serenity pilot, Hoban "Wash" Washburne (rest his soul), from Firefly. Joss Whedon worked with Gallery 1988 to put the this show together, and he was there himself on opening night, which... I am really really excited about. The show is open now until Sept. 27th. Brown Coats unite!

Bennett Slater The third and final piece in my series for Gauntlet Gallery’s, "AU9USTO" show. This series has been an exciting challenge, and a key step forward in my never-ending pursuit of mastering the oil medium. I'm fascinated by the concept of life from death and and the building of a future off the bones of the past. The open theme of the show allowed me to fully engage my concept. With every new piece that I do, I try to tackle rendering objects I've either struggled with in the past, or am hesitant to attempt. These 3 proved to be some of the most challenging and perilous, but also the most enjoyable to paint. Maybe I'm masochistic? More on that as it develops.

Bennett Slater The second of 3 pieces I created for Gauntlet Gallery's show, AU9USTO. While brainstorming concepts and themes for the upcoming show, I couldn't shake this image from my mind. Everything kept rounding back to my love of history, ancient mythology, dutch still lifes, and on -ad infinitum.

Bennett Slater Cheyenne Randall Ian Reynold Justin Hopkins Rebecca Adams Sam Lamott Vincent Cacciotti Wednesday Kirwan William Arvin

Hm, I've been rather quiet these past weeks, haven't I? Well brace yourselves for an art explosion (artsplosion) in the coming weeks. To kick things off, I'd like to direct your eyes to this fancy poster for a show I'm very excited to be a part of! The show features some REAL swell talent, and opens Aug. 23rd at Gauntlet Gallery in San Francisco (the Paris of the west). Attend! --Bennett

"Hellboy" oil on wood 8.5"x11.5" Bennett Slater This past Friday was Hero Complex Gallery's "Hellboy 20th Anniversary Show" curated by Chogrin. I created this piece for that show. Mike Mignola (creator of Hellboy and personal hero) was there and also exhibited work. This is a career highlight that I'm downplaying, because I don't handle emotion well. Regardless, check out the shooooow!

A quick snap of my "Beyond The Infinite" piece framed for the show. It isn't depicted in this photo, but this frame weighs about 7,000 lbs Est.

My contribution to Gallery 1988's 10th Anniversary show! I'm incredibly honoured to be included in celebrating their landmark, and I'm humbled by the list of artists in the show. The theme of this show could be anything we wanted, with a subtle inclusion of pop culture. With SUCH an open theme, it was incredibly difficult to get started. I decided on tackling my favourite filmmaker of all time, Stanley Kubrick.. because.. Stanley Kubrick.