KEYS TO FANTASIES Painting

Arthur Benjamins (St) Nbs. Born on June 22nd, 1953 in Rotterdam, Holland.Lived in Rhodesia for 6 years and in the UK for 40.. He has lived in Phoenix, Arizona, USA since 2014. Arthur Benjamins trademark photo-realism took hold in the early 1980s and his highly publicised motor racing, aviation and record breaking originals pioneered a style that has been mimicked by many other painters but never equalled.. At the end of the 20th century, he was ready for a fresh challenge and he turned towards a period of transition that would emerge with the new millennium. Unlike his fellow countryman, Piet Mondrian, who was a revisiting painter and would change a painting once or even several times, Benjamins proceeds to paint continual narratives. Every one of his paintings forms an opinion or a view of the subject that is portrayed. Benjamins states: "Once a sentence has been spoken, than those words cannot be recalled. That opinion, rhetoric or statement as flattering or hurtful as it may be, is set in stone. Every one of my paintings in sequence is a snapshot, a frame of a film or the lyrics of a ballad, which can never be undone" Over the centuries, the many styles of painting culminated in a myriad of genres of which many remained in obscurity but some prospered into modern day vernacular. The 1960s iconic Pop-art icon images from Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns covered a certain range, however, Benjamins work extends beyond those in where colour, composition and textures become part of the discovery processes where the multi-divergence of viewers explanations becomes obvious. He incorporates a far wider range of iconic images of which many are in the process of extending into, or are already well beyond the consideration of ephemera. His Benjaminsarian universe of choice and rendition of icons, the progression and regression of subject matter in two-and-three dimensions are an epicentre, wherein one moment, the raised surface or texture is used as a substrate, the next, as an underscore or shadow. His work encompasses strong, clear images that people can recognise and identify with. It is sharp, precise, strong in colour and surface. There is no evidence of painterly muddiness, no sentimentality, no trace of the painters doubting soul, trembling hand or lack of direction. Benjamins' jaw is set firm.