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Sallie Benton

"My grandfather was a painter.  In the late 1880’s he sailed across the Atlantic to study at the Beaux Arts in Paris. As a child I would spend summers with him. When I was three, he showed me my mother’s early drawings and asked if I would like to draw. I asked for pencil and paper.

My great aunt, Jane Peterson was also a painter.  I fell in love with oil colors on her palette in the sunlight; bright cadmium yellows, greens and oranges.   I found the smell of turpentine exhilarating and sexy.

I am captivated by faces — people’s body language, their expressions.  One of the kindest men I know, has a perennial scowl on his face; it’s his mask of protection, he appears angry and unapproachable, he is neither.  We all wear masks to cover our vulnerabilities.  Sitting for a portrait, defenses fall away, revealing the true grace of a person.

My paintings are about this interactive connection between myself and the person being depicted; the wordless communication that leads to a work that is not only a likeness, but ‘feels like’ the person  portrayed and reveals deeper insights into their personality.

In a successful work, the desired result will be true communication with the viewer."

EDUCATION:            
 University Of Kansas: B.F.A.
 Parsons School of Design
 Columbia University
 Yale University School of Art: MFA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2008 First St. Gallery: ”The Dance”, N.Y.C.
2005 First St Gallery: “Erotica”, N.Y.C.
2003  First St. Gallery “Self ” N.Y.C.
2002  First St. Gallery: “Portraits at the Beach”, N.Y.C.
2001   Princeton University: ETS Gallery
1999   First St. Gallery: “Summer Portraits”, N.Y.C
1992 Moravian College Gallery: Bethlehem, Pa. Sculpture

GROUP EXIBITIONS: 
2004  First St. Gallery: “Group Show”, N.Y.C.
2000  Bowery Gallery: N.Y.C.
1998   OIA Gallery: N.Y.C.
1996   Guild Hall Museum: East Hampton, N.Y.
1995  The Parrish Art Museum: Southampton, N.Y.
1994  Yale University Art Gallery: M.F.A. Thesis Show
1993  Snug Harbor Cultural Center: Staten Island, N.Y.
1992  Yale University Art Gallery: New Haven, Ct.
The Parrish Art Museum: Southampton, N.Y.
Guild Hall Museum: East Hampton, N.Y.
1990 Sculpture Center of New York: Wall Sculptures, N.Y.C. 
Paula Cooper Gallery: Act Up, Art for Auction: Sculpture, N.Y.C.
1986 The Patrick Gallery: Wall Compositions, Austin, Texas
1984 The Paperwork Gallery: Watercolors, Larchmont, N.Y.
Newport Harbor Museum: International Competition
First Women’s Bank: Curator Ruth Bass, ART news, N.Y.C.
1982 The Firehouse Gallery: Nassau Community College, N.Y.
1980 National Arts: N. Y. C.
1979  W.I.A. Gallery: "Benton/Bernstein/Grabel", N.Y.C.
1977  National Academy of Design: Allied Artists Show, N.Y.C.
1975  Brooklyn Museum: Works on Paper Brooklyn, N.Y.
                                    
COLLECTORS:
Robert Altman, Edward Barnard, Ambassador Alan Blinken, Alden Brewster, William Sloan Coffin, Sam Cohn, George Doty, Arthur Gelb, Dustin Hoffman, Lynne Hanke, Stanley Jaffe, Tom Mankiewicz, John Mascotte, Arthur Penn, Marshall Rose, Marlene Schiff, Michael Schultz, Richard Stone, Bud Yorkin