Perhaps I should start this blog with a confession. I have never seen Jason Benjamin’s work in the flesh, so to speak. And now he is gone. His body was found in the Murrumbidgee River by police on the 16th February after he had been reported missing. He was 50. According to his Sydney dealer Ralph Hobbs, Benjamin had his ups and downs but he seemed excited about an upcoming exhibition and decided to travel to outback New South Wales to produce some paintings and poems for it.
Although predominately a landscape painter, Benjamin was a regular finalist in the Archibald and in 2005 he won the Packing Room prize with his portrait of actor Bill Hunter, titled ‘Staring Down The Past’. His other subjects included musicians Paul Kelly and Tim Rogers.
Staring Down The Past, oil on linen, 180 cm x 240 cm (Art Gallery NSW)
Born in Melbourne, Benjamin spent periods of his childhood in the US and Mexico and studied at the Pratt Institute in New York City from the age of 19, but found it stifling. Afterwards, he juggled work and art studies before returning to Australia in the early 1990’s. He has won a number of awards including the Mosman Prize (3 times) and the Kings School Art Prize for landscape painting in 1997.
I Can't Let Go, 2004, multi-plate coloured etching (Etching House)
Despite spending up to 70 hours a week painting in his studio, he was able to balance this with his marriage and the demands of 2 children. He once said that “if you have a richer life – full of experience, communication, challenges – then you’ve got more to paint”. He describes his landscapes as “romanticized versions of reality” and apparently has been called a photo-realist painter, which just goes to show how little some people know about art. Although he did use photography as part of his source material. He appears to have been a fine draftsman, but there is also a rich tonality and mood inducing colour in his work.
There Is No Easy Ride (Western plains NSW), oil on linen, 120 x 180 cm (Tiffany Jones Fine Art)
For those of you who know the paintings of Thomas Cole and Frederick Church, you may not be surprised to learn that they were influences on Benjamin.
Hobbs believes Benjamin’s romantic landscapes were always telling stories that were close to him. "He felt life very intensely so it wasn't just about painting trees and skies, it was a layered story of love loss, romance all through these works," he said.
"When he was in a landscape he wasn't just creating images of it, he was really feeling what it was to be in this place."
Success came early to Benjamin and it appears he may have had trouble dealing with it. He was only 18 when he exhibited in his first group show in Manhattan. Tim Olsen, director of Olsen Galleries thought there was a melancholy in his work that paralleled his own life. “He got distracted by the promise of big money and lost his way a bit, but that's what happens with young talent. Jason didn't know how to deal with success. It's an enormous tragedy."
Hobbs said Benjamin had his demons, “felt pressure greatly” and “found solace in addiction to help him through.But he was incredibly passionate about life and love … everything he did was an outpouring of emotion.”
We Just Knew He'd Be There (2014), oil on linen, 120 x 180 cm (Artsy.net)
Benjamin’s work has been exhibited in the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Parliament House Collection and in over 40 solo shows globally. Actor Kevin Spacey is one of a number of Hollywood identities to have acquired his work.
References;
Tiffany Jones Fine Art
Australian Broadcasting Commission
The Guardian