Ernie Benton 2021

Ernie Benton was born and grew up in Western NSW. He lived there until his teens when he travelled extensively up and down the eastern seaboard of Australia. It was on his return to western NSW that his longstanding desire to create was put into practice. First medium he used was discarded plough disks that he obtained from various properties in and around Dubbo.

The art he created on the plough disks was enhanced by fire which brought out the unusual colours in the steel.

He then moved on to painting on both canvas and tiles. His paintings are inspired by the western NSW landscape - often harsh and dry but always saturated in colour.

The exhibition includes a mixture of his paintings and drawings. The paintings include both oils and acrylic works. They are, in the main, abstract landscapes inspired by the country side in western NSW and his connection to that country.

The exhibition also includes caricature drawings of faces. These are very different works inspired by the love of vibrant colour, quirky humour and the unique and wonderful characters he has met over the years.

Covid-safety

Covid-19 safe procedures operate at the gallery. We record names for contact tracing with the Service NSW QR code, supply hand sanitiser, disinfect our surfaces and have limited number of people in the gallery at a time (depending on the current advice), applying social distancing.