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Noel Bensted RCA MA
Born 1970
1991 – 93 Royal College of Art London
1989 – 91 Brighton Polytechnic, Sussex
Noel Bensted’s subjects are the young men and women who socialise in the cities of Europe and Cuba. His paintings are peopled with the young of today, dressed in contemporary clothing with all the edginess of urban life. With a fearless approach to the canvas, not to be intimidated by architectural interiors and complex grouping of models, nor tempted to take the easy route when depicting the human figure. These paintings sparkle with vitality, from the thriving activity of the Café Florian with the waiter ‘spinning’ his way through the tables, to the gentle contemplative studies of his single portraits.
The work shows a clear interest in how the roles of masculine and feminine can be seen to be played out in these captured instances of time. Though mainly concerned with the effects of tone and the trace of the brush on the surface of the canvas you can also detect that Bensted’s portraits have an intimate atmosphere, which draw you into the painting, suggesting a connection between the model and the viewer. There is no apparent poising but a reflective moment shared.
Bensted always works from life, which is frequently extremely challenging, but eventually, more rewarding as it enables the artist to develop and renew his painting skills and to become more creative and inventive. The artist also concerns himself with the different effects of light and how it changes according to time and season. Noel Bensted offers us a rare opportunity to view someone on the threshold of an extremely promising career, in which in the coming years, we expect Bensted to establish himself as a leading British figurative artist.
"Noel Bensted paints with a filmic quality freezing moments in time,
creating visual reminders of John Singer Sargent and a young Ken
Howard."
Selected Exhibitions:
1993 – The Artist’s of London, Royal College of Art, Museum of London
2000 – Art London, Maclean Fine Art
– Fresh Paint, Ardean Gallery, London
2003 – Betty Morton Gallery, London
2004 – Solo Show, Medici, London
– Biscuit Factory Gallery, Newcastle
– Di Rollo Gallery, Edinburgh
2005 – Group shows with Bohemia Galleries, York and Beverley
2006 – 2008 – Mixed and Solo shows with Medici, London and The Modern Artists Gallery Berkshire
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