Suzanne Benton

Benton, Ida Gibbs Hunt, Class of 1884, monoprint with Chine collé, Oberlin

1996

Suzanne Benton is a celebrated pioneer feminist activist artist who has worked in 32 countries worldwide as a metal mask maker, mask performance artist, sculptor, printmaker, painter, lecturer and workshop leader. Her seven decades-long art life continues to evolve. She is currently writing the memoir, The Spirit of Hope. Born, raised and educated in NYC (Queens College, Fine Arts alum), Suzanne Benton is a printmaker, painter, metal sculptor, mask maker/performance artist, lecturer, and workshop leader. Believing the purpose of art is to explore humanity, and that art comes alive when it relates to people’s lives, Benton has been drawn to multicultural themes steeped in myth, ritual, and archetype. This work oftentimes engages participation. Bridging cultures, venues featuring Benton's artworks and performances, have stretched from New York City to villages in remote parts of Africa, India, and Nepal, as well as philosophy and education portals from Calcutta to Cambridge. A former Fulbright Scholar (India), recipient of many grants, artist residencies, and hostings by the cultural arm US Embassies, her worldwide travels began with a 1976 to 1977 yearlong journey as a feminist pioneer to 14 countries where she welded metal masks, developed and performed what became Journey Tales, and led mask and story workshops. That pattern, spurred on by wanderlust and curiosity has brought her to Bali, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. Beyond exhibiting widely (150+ solo shows and representation in museums, and private collections worldwide), I’m the author of The Art of Welded Sculpture and numerous articles. the artist has been listed in, among others Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Art, and Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975, edited by Barbara Love, 2006. As a journeying artist, Benton has sought to filter the treasures of newness, of sharing, spectacle, friendship and insight into her artwork. In this ninth decade of life, and as a working artist for nearly 70 years, the artist will give occasional mask performances (March 9 at the Leepa-Rattner Museum, Tarpon Springs, FL) , in addition to her printmaking, is painting in a Late Style that arrived as a surprise during the Covid pandemic. The resultant aloneness from sheltering in place brought an uncanny level of solitude that only painting could voice. Reaching for the purist of colors, she then entered a celebratory world of Neo-Transcendental paintings called All About Color while continuing to write her memoir, The Spirit of Hope.