The Sandra Ainsley gallery is proud to represent Bennett Bean.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Bennett Bean's work is his use of gold leaf. By gilding the interior of his vessels, he complicates the relationship between interior space and exterior surface. Although Bean's artistic concerns are primarily formal, his finished pieces, with their rich colors and gilding, produce a luxurious sort of aesthetic satisfaction.
Bean's power as an artist rests with his extraordinary ability to choreograph dazzlingly colorful abstract patterns as they dance across the outside surfaces of his delicately hand-formed vessels. A heightened sense of drama is achieved by his choice and application of 24K gold leaf to the interior surfaces, thereby creating a contrasting inner glow that warms and delights the eyes of the beholder:
"I refuse to let the fire have the last word. So much embellishment takes place after the firing—the paint and the gold."
-Bennett Bean
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