current SHOW

                                          CHARLES BENTON: NEW WORKS
                                       JANUARY 3 - JANUARY 26, 2020
                          OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 3-6PM


​ Charles Benton is a visual storyteller with a bent for fashion.  After graduating from Central Saint Martins in London with a degree in illustration and fashion design, Benton launched his career in Paris with some of the most prestigious fashion houses such as Ungaro, Laroche and Givenchy.  As his creative endeavors took him to London and Los Angeles, his artistic style developed and became an oeuvre peopled by a cast of characters from his whimsical and sometimes dark imagination.  Inspired by the dark masterpieces depicted in Audrey Beardsley’s sophisticated magical and insightful works, Benton’s figures illustrate a level of fashion design that bespeaks his couture experiences.
This exhibition showcases the most recent work where he experimented with various mediums such as acrylics, oil paint and, his favorite, ink and watercolor pencil.  The subject matter comes out of a strong urge to combine the years of experience in the glamorous fashion world with illustration skills, an acute eye for character and the way cultural markers are defined through fashion.