My Work
“I paint and draw things from my imagination, which is filled with bits and pieces of experiences that I’ve lived, juxtaposed with what I’m experiencing now, and projecting what I feel will happen in the future.
While I make works of a lot of subjects, such as still lifes and landscapes, I’m really interested in doing works of people. To me, everything revolves around the individual. A successful work of a person or people is one that evokes some kind of emotion. I want my images of people to give off a feeling of being real. By real, I don’t mean rendering them photographically, but rather something more abstract, something more than what the viewer usually sees.
My subject matter is very broad, and I am very inclusive of whom I depict, although I do have a large representation of African-Americans in a high percentage of my works. Often, it’s not their race that I’m presenting, but rather what they are doing. I’m also very responsive to people who reflect their lives in their work and leisure.
When I depict the affluent, it’s often from the position of my being outside of their world, and I try to depict that perspective in how I represent them. In short, I’m a people’s painter.”
Benny Andrews
Benny Andrews: Artist’s Statement, “Benny Andrews, The Revival Series”. exh.cat. (April 13 – June 17, 1995). A.F.T.U./Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY. Reprinted courtesy, Benny Andrews.