The Glamorous Life 01
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
60 x 60 in.
The Glamorous Life 09
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
48 x 36 in.
The Glamorous Life 04
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
48 x 36 in.
The Glamorous Life 012
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
24 x 20 in.
The Glamorous Life 011
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
24 x 20 in.
Heads of State Mini Series
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
8 x 6 in., each
HOB B-Sides Remixed No.4 Yellow
Silk screens, digital prints, and crystals on panel
20 x 16 in.
HOB B-Sides Remixed No.4 Blue
Silk screens, digital prints, and crystals on panel
20 x 16 in.
HOB B-Sides Remixed No.4 Brown
Silk screens, digital prints, and crystals on panel
20 x 16 in.
Heads of State No. 3
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
20 x 16 in.
Heads of State No. 56
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
20 x 16 in.
Heads of State No. 59
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
20 x 16 in.
Heads of State No. 6
Analog photography,appropriated images,mixed media on panel
20 x 16 in.
Heads of State No. 26
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
40 x 30 in.
Heads of State No. 31
Analog photography, appropriated images, mixed media on panel
40 x 30 in.
Guyanese-American
Gavin Benjamin is a multifaceted artist who combines original analog photography and appropriated images with collage, paint, and varnish to create rich and luxurious works that call back to baroque traditions while incorporating elements of current culture to provoke, critique, and explore. Benjamin investigates the intersection of culture, media, politics, fashion, and design, addressing questions that (continue to) confront a man of color in America today. His pieces reflect a multifaceted exploration of identity: “My work includes everything I love and everything I’m challenged by. It’s honest, curious, bright, thoughtful—and sometimes dark. It embodies all the reasons I became an artist in the first place.”
Born in Guyana, South America and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Benjamin received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. During this time, he worked as an intern for the legendary portrait photographer, Arnold Newman. Benjamin also worked as black and white and color printer at LTI and Baboo color labs. From there, he went on to work at Edge Reps and Exposure NY, agencies representing commercial and advertising photographers, prop stylists, and hair and makeup artists. After Exposure NY, he worked as a freelance production coordinator/photo editor with stints at Kenneth Cole productions, Esquire Magazine, Hachette Filipacchi Media, and Good Housekeeping magazine.
Benjamin’s artistic vision is deeply influenced by the 15th- to 17th-century Dutch and Italian masters, whose works captivate him with their romantic, brooding atmospheres, dramatic chiaroscuro, and rich, luxurious palettes. “I am drawn to the juxtaposition of objects and compositions that come together to tell a story,” he reflects, infusing his own pieces with a similar sense of narrative and emotional depth.
Screen Invert
Benjamin’s work has appeared at the Slick Paris, Sotheby’s NY, Architectural Digest Home Design Show, Art Hampton, Scope Miami, Palm Beach Modern, Context Miami, Context NY, Art Silicon Valley, and the LA Art Fair. Benjamin has been the artist in residence at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, where he also recently featured for a pop-up exhibition of his acclaimed series Heads of State, Night Fever, and Miss a Thing. His work has also been on display in the 15th edition of the 2024 Havana Biennial in Cuba.
A true innovator, Benjamin continues to captivate audiences with his ability to blend the opulence of art history with the complexities of modern life, offering a body of work that is as visually compelling as it is intellectually and emotionally resonant.
