Lane Bennion

Lane Bennion has been affected by many different influences in his life. The first painting he remembers was Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. He remembers seeing a small reproduction while he was thumbing through his high school textbook. He was so fascinated by the scene, he carefully cut out the picture to keep. At the time he didn’t know much about the artist, but he remembers the way it made him feel.

While studying at the University of Utah he mentored under artists David Dornan, Paul Davis, and Tony Smith. He later went on to graduate in Medical Illustration. Through the university’s art program he learned the technical aspects of how to construct a painting that would invite the viewer to participate in the scene, helping to “finish” the work. Bennion states, “The artist can set the scene, and present a few ideas for the viewer to ponder and dream about. A painting can be a dialogue or conversation between the artist and the audience.

Hopper’s “Nighthawks” worked in the same fashion for Bennion. He states, “The stage is masterfully set with powerful color relationships and a dramatic contrast between the warm inviting interior of the diner and the cool empty street outside. The four figures are mine to direct or control like game pieces, moving either backward or forward in time.”

Bennion feels that many movies, songs, and paintings seem to be afraid to ask the audience to ponder, study, or fill in the blanks for themselves. Bennion states, “ I love it when the credits begin to roll at the end of a movie and I say to myself-I don’t quite get it….I have got to go back and watch that again!” Bennion desires to create paintings that contain this collective thought process.