ABOUT MJ BENSON
“As a painter, I begin with the horizon, its ever steady line of delineation between the spaces of land, sky, sea.
In between are layers and layers of light and color, sprung from my memory but unbound by realism.
I use a framework, a few rules of composition or color, but it’s the tension between what I expect and what the painting is saying that dictates the flow and finish.
I work, and wait, until the profound shifting between place and memory stills itself harmoniously on the canvas.”
SELECTED EXHIBITS
Roaring Artist Gallery, Juried Artist, Connections - April -May 2021
Ocean House Gallery, Cape Elizabeth, ME - December 2020
Portland Art Gallery - Featured Artist - 2/2018, 3/2019, 11/2020
Boxed Art Gallery, Tufts University - June 2020
Down East Magazine Art of Giving Gala, Featured Artist - 2017/2018
The Francis, Maine - Solo Show, Recent Works - August-December 2018
Cape Elizabeth Land Trust Paint for Preservation - 2017/2018
Maine Home & Design Magazine - Ones to Watch - December 2017
School of the Museum of Fine Arts Art Sale - Medici Artist - 2015-2020 (painting)
Yarmouth Art Festival, Yarmouth, ME - October 2016 & 2017
Townsend Art Gallery, Solo Show - Summer 2017
Coolidge Corner Arts Festival, Brookline, MA - May 2017
Engine Gallery Rumpus Show, Biddeford, ME - February-March 2017
REPRESENTATION
Maine: Portland Art Gallery
Online: Singulart.com
COLLECTIONS
(photography & painting)
Fidelity
Corcoran Companies
Nancy & William Osgood, SMFA Medici Society
Dan Holland, Goldman Sachs
...numerous US and international collectors
EDUCATION
Harvard University - EdM, 2000 (Arts in Education)
School of the Museum of Fine Art/Tufts University - BFA, 1995 (Photography)
Courses - Haystack Mountain School, Maine College of Art (Painting)
In between are layers and layers of light and color, sprung from my memory but unbound by realism.
I use a framework, a few rules of composition or color, but it’s the tension between what I expect and what the painting is saying that dictates the flow and finish.
I work, and wait, until the profound shifting between place and memory stills itself harmoniously on the canvas.”
SELECTED EXHIBITS
Roaring Artist Gallery, Juried Artist, Connections - April -May 2021
Ocean House Gallery, Cape Elizabeth, ME - December 2020
Portland Art Gallery - Featured Artist - 2/2018, 3/2019, 11/2020
Boxed Art Gallery, Tufts University - June 2020
Down East Magazine Art of Giving Gala, Featured Artist - 2017/2018
The Francis, Maine - Solo Show, Recent Works - August-December 2018
Cape Elizabeth Land Trust Paint for Preservation - 2017/2018
Maine Home & Design Magazine - Ones to Watch - December 2017
School of the Museum of Fine Arts Art Sale - Medici Artist - 2015-2020 (painting)
Yarmouth Art Festival, Yarmouth, ME - October 2016 & 2017
Townsend Art Gallery, Solo Show - Summer 2017
Coolidge Corner Arts Festival, Brookline, MA - May 2017
Engine Gallery Rumpus Show, Biddeford, ME - February-March 2017
REPRESENTATION
Maine: Portland Art Gallery
Online: Singulart.com
COLLECTIONS
(photography & painting)
Fidelity
Corcoran Companies
Nancy & William Osgood, SMFA Medici Society
Dan Holland, Goldman Sachs
...numerous US and international collectors
EDUCATION
Harvard University - EdM, 2000 (Arts in Education)
School of the Museum of Fine Art/Tufts University - BFA, 1995 (Photography)
Courses - Haystack Mountain School, Maine College of Art (Painting)
