Young, old, joyful, withered. All these faces populate the vibrant canvases of renowned American portrait painter Stephen Bennett, who is presenting his “Faces of Light” exhibition at the Venetian Macao this month.
With 38 small and large-scale hand-painted portraits of people of different cultures from around the world, the exhibition celebrates the ethnic diversity of the world.
The focus of his paintings is particularly on the eyes, which invite people to enter in and experience their common humanity.
Highlights include portraits of Namibia’s beloved actor N!xau from the film ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’, Hollywood actress Sharon Stone, and renowned aboriginal didgeridoo maker Djalu Gurruwiwi.
“This is my first time to Macau, and I’ve found it to be an incredibly unique city with a rich cultural history. I love seeing the diversity in the faces of the people here,” says Bennett.
Prior to opening ceremony, the artist gave a special portrait-painting lesson to visual arts students from Macao Polytechnic Institute, offering tips and demonstrating techniques.
“When I was a child, different artists came to my school to inspire us and that helped a lot to foster who I am today. So that brings me here today to inspire you to be a better artist tomorrow,” he said to the students.
“Let’s do some exercises to get some oxygen into our bodies before painting. Don’t worry about mistakes, but be creative,” he enthused.
During the exhibition period, Bennett will conduct more workshops demonstrating his painting skills live and interacting with visual art students and children from the local community.
His artistic beginnings can be traced back to a trip to Cancun, Mexico, in 1993, where he felt a desire to develop his ability as an artist. He stayed in a Mayan village for six months to soak up the culture, relax and learn a little of the language.
Bennett began painting his neighbours, local fishermen and farmers, and later he exhibited his works, receiving a hugely positive response from the local community as everyone came to see their friends on canvas. By then he realised a huge transformation in his life, and discovered his desire to preserve every race and culture with his portrait painting.
In this exhibition, Bennett presents one of his favourite portraits of a Mayan woman whom he met in a fruit market in Cancun. He splashed the vivid colours of their embroidery all over her face, illuminated by the bright tropical sun of the Yuncatan Peninsula where she lives.
“The colour of the sun is so vibrant. You have to find it yourself. I won’t tell you where. I’m sure you can identify it,” Bennett says.
“I put my talent into painting that benefits the community. That’s what we do here, where people can meet and talk and discuss. I like to exhibit in a public place rather than in a private museum, which is out of reach for most people.”
Bennett has set himself the ambitious life goal of painting 1,000 portraits to be exhibited worldwide. Over the last two decades he has been to over 30 countries, seeking out indigenous people to capture their soulful faces and ritual adornments in his colourful paintings. To date he has already completed a respectable 700.
“My dream is to highlight these people. Wherever I go, I see them struggling culturally, physically and spiritually,” he says. “They’re the soul and spirit of their countries.”
Stephen Bennett has also painted portraits of a number of dignitaries and celebrities. And some of these have been used to raise money and awareness for charitable causes. For example, his portraits of Michelle Pfeiffer and Sharon Stone raised funds for A.I.D.S. through the American Foundation for Aids Research.
The international artist is also the founder of Faces of the World, Inc., an educational organisation aimed at teaching and inspiring children from all over the world to communicate through art.
Bennett’s work has been exhibited in private and national galleries in Tanzania, Brunei, Sarawak, Malaysia, Mexico, St. Martin, Panama, France, French Polynesia, the Seychelles and the United States.
His work has also been featured on three sets of United Nations postage stamps in 2009, 2010 and 2012, issued in three countries and three languages at the United Nations Headquarters offices in Austria, Switzerland and the U.S.
The free-admission exhibition
is open from 11 am to 8 pm daily
until August 3, on Level 3
near the Venetian Ballroom.
