| Sunday, January 25, 2004 Benson's work proves that he's never forsworn that riley leghorn By Kim Atchley
David Benson knows more about poultry than he cares to remember. He just can't forget what he experienced from the claws of Cornelius, a rooster his family raised. But Benson deals with that part of his past by laughing and encouraging others to do so, too. "Homage to the White Leghorn Rooster," Benson's mixed media work is on display with the Southern Exposure artists' collective in the Parson's Gallery of the Spartanburg County Museum of Art. He created the work for a food-themed show held at the Elder Gallery in Charlotte about a year ago. Being encouraged with new themes is one of the benefits Benson enjoys as a member of the Southern Exposure artists' group. Benson was reared in Spartanburg, learning poultry wisdom at the hands of his mother and grandmother. His father, whom Benson lovingly describes as a Yankee with no knowledge of farming, exposed him to art, taking him to the Chicago Institute of Art, and encouraging all of his efforts. Learning to avoid roosters came from Cornelius. Now an image of the offensive fowl is trapped less in his memory than under the glass covering his artwork that blends collage and decal creation techniques along with terms and phrases he remembers his mother and grandmother using. He applied several coats of acrylic to a drawing he had enlarged and painted. Then he soaked the work and peeled off the original paper. He painted on top of the acrylic, adding interest to the unique translucency created between the acrylic and what remained from the original image, and then added feathers. "You have to look closely at David's work," said artist Linda Hudgins. "There's always something more to see." Viewers like Hazel Schwabner have had fun doing that. She and Benson took turns trading chicken stories in the gallery a few days before the exhibit's Jan. 17 opening. They remembered the times when people would earn money by traveling from home to home "dressing" chickens (wringing their necks and plucking feathers) for people who could afford the luxury of not handling those tasks themselves. Benson has been an art educator for 26 years. Nearing retirement eligibility, he's beginning to question whether he'll be ready to step away from the system that's supported him so well. In Spartanburg County School District 3, he was given the freedom to design his own art classroom at Cowpens Junior High, where he taught for 17 years, before moving to Dorman High School in District 6 nine years ago. There, one teacher was moved so he could have a room with running water in it and when the new school was built, he designed the space in which he and his students would work. He teaches drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics. "Our curriculum is such that we can allow students the room to explore their own interests, which allows them to feel successful with their efforts," Benson said. It's an idea he know works from a personal standpoint and dates back to the years he remembers the smell of those first big crayons he held in his hands. "I never really felt great about my academic abilities in school, but my art, and being able to help others connect to their own creativity, makes me feel successful," Benson said. Benson has won dozens of awards and his students have been earning their own honors. But even in those, birds seem to be a recurring theme in Benson's life. He remembers being given live, colorfully dyed chickens at Easter time and seeing them offered for sale in the back of McClellan's dime store in Spartanburg. He worked at George's Egg Farm to pay his way to Europe. His brother raised chickens and still has canaries. And a few years ago, one of Benson's students, George Savakis, won the national Scholastics award and had his work, "Birds Of A Feather," purchased for the Scholastic Arts Corporate office in Washington, D.C., where it remains on display. |