Henry Banger Benvenuti, an American collagist, painter, curator and philanthropist born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1952. He curated exhibitions in the East Village art scene in the 1980’s, including the controversial Nonson Gallery Punk No-Wave Exhibition. Banger developed his unique photo collage technique from glamour magazines found in the trash and on the streets of NYC. He is a US Army veteran who returned with an honourable discharge from Germany. He lived off the GI bill with limited resources. After a traumatic car accident, he settled in Paris, working and living in the Parisian abandoned building squats. There, he met art patron and fashion designer Agnes b., who became a collector of his work and presented five solo exhibitions in her galleries in Paris, Tokyo, Marseille, and the Grand Palais Annual Decouvertes 93 Exhibition. Group exhibitions included the Picasso Museum, Antibes and the National Gallery of Canada. Banger then moved to Toronto, Canada, working as a scenic painter for innovative directors like David Cronenberg and Guillermo Del Toro. Banger’s work was then collected by directors and artists, including David Cronenberg, Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Naomi Watts, etc. recently Banger received a solo exhibition at Ph21 Gallery in Barcelona and a solo exhibition at the Agnes b. Gallery in Marseilles.
-Written by Nancy Oliveri, Fine Art Photographer & Psychotherapist
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Which ‘hood are you in?
I live in the Bellwoods Park neighbourhood of Toronto, in the Artscape building, at the corner of Queen and Crawford Streets.
What do you do?
I work in my private studio in the Toronto movie industry as a scenic painter and have been working there for over 25 years.
What are you currently working on?
I just finished an exhibition of my portraits with the PH21 Gallery situated in the heart of Barcelona, Spain’s historic Gothic Quarter. I am also now exhibiting my works from the collection of Agnes b. in her gallery in Marseille, France.
I am currently spending the winter on Estero Island, working in my studio in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. I have been working on sculpting photographs printed on Hahnemühle archival photo rag.
Where can we find your work?
