Exhibition Dates: September 12 – November 6, 2009
Opening Reception: First Friday Gallery Walk, October 2, 6-10pm

(Visual Art/Sculpture)
Location: Artspace, Gallery One
 
In his latest body of work, sculptor Aaron Lee Benson has returned to an exploration of the aesthetic power of pure form. Benson’s new works are reminiscent of much of his work from the late 1980s into the early 90s. He is relying on a highly textured, organic sense of form, with origins found in nature.  His travels across the United States in the late 70s (in a beat up VW van), and three other visits in the last five years, have re-awakened in him a new devotion to the towering landscape formations found in the deserts and higher elevations of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.  Benson and his family are avid hikers and climbers and spend many weeks each summer camping and packing all around the world. Month-long backpacking trips to many of the mountainous regions of the world, including the upper midwest of the U.S. and the Alps of western and central Europe, have also influenced his new work. Benson’s new forms have combined with his ongoing interest in the human figure to create new works with rich, striking surface texture.
 
Benson is a Professor of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Chairman of the Art Department at Union University in Jackson, TN. Benson received his BFA in Ceramics, BS in Art Education, and his MFA in Ceramics/Sculpture from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. Benson’s work has been exhibited throughout the US, including at the Joan Derryberry Gallery, Cookeville, TN; Sculpture Invitational, San Antonio, TX; Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park, Chicago IL; and Sarratt Gallery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. Benson’s work is part of numerous collections including the Alabama Institute for the Deaf And Blind, Talladega, AL; Company Zero Graphics, Columbia, TN; and the Jackson/Madison County Public Art Commission, Jackson, TN. In 2008, Benson received the Best in Show award at Sculpture Key West, FL.  His latest sculpture commission is Our Peace, Follow the Drinking Gourd, a one-acre earth work at The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson, Nashville TN.