Ben Perini

This series of large charcoal portraits began in 2012, but I have this feeling that I’ve been working on it my whole life. It is in many ways a culmination of; my love of drawing since childhood, my over 40 year career as a professional illustrator, my practice of my craft every day.

Formed with charcoal and white chalk on paper, these striking larger-than-life images are an exploration of environmental, political, and cultural themes. They act as a meditation on identity, the intersection of the personal and the societal. Though fictional portraits, each draws inspiration from the powerful and deeply human people I’ve been lucky to know in my life.

The resulting visual "poetry" is deeply personal — but also playful. As with all creations of the imagination, I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s great fun. This leaves the ultimate interpretation of each piece’s drama up to the viewer.

Summerscape

BWAC Summer Exhibition

Gallery on the Pier – Red Hook, Brooklyn
July – August, 2018

TRANSFORMATION

BWAC SPRING Exhibition
Gallery on the Pier – Red Hook, Brooklyn

May – June, 2018

19th Annual WAH Salon Show

Curated by Yuko Nii, Coordinated by Richard Sanchez

Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
January – February, 2018

16th Annual Jean Townsend Award Exhibition
Art Alliance, Red Bank, NJ
2017

Three
Art Alliance, Red Bank, NJ
October 2017

INTERACTIVE
BWAC SPRING Exhibition

Gallery on the Pier – Red Hook, Brooklyn
Fall 2017

Art Alliance
Art Alliance, Red Bank, NJ
September 2017

Shades, SECCA Premiere & Gallery Event

SECCA Museum, Winston-Salem, NC
2016

Issues of Identity, Eleanor & Egbert Davis Gallery
Sawtooth School for Visual Art, Winston-Salem, NC
2015

Carolina’s Got Art, Elder Gallery
Charlotte, North Carolina
2015

Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition
Artworks Gallery, Winston-Salem, NC
2015

Steele Gallery 
Steele Group Architects, Winston-Salem, NC
July – September 2015

The Black & White Show featuring the art of Ben Perini

Artworks Gallery, Winston-Salem, NC
February 2015

State of the Art/Art of the State
Cameron Art Museum, Wilming...