Introducing Julie Bennett...
Bubbly Julie Bennett cracks a joke as we cram into one of the tiny Camberwell College lifts, her laughter booming as it bounces off the walls.
Finally up in her studio space on the fourth floor, she explains: “I would consider myself a people person. I really love people,” which is evident from the portraits that line the walls.
Lounging back on a chair, Bennett is clearly confident and comfortable, wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a cheerful smile.
Graphic design
Working in graphic design for 10 years for magazines such as Q, Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, Bennett decided to pursue her interest in art:
“I absolutely loved graphics, but it’s so, so clean. I find painting an opportunity to get dirty.
"It’s all about my hands rather than having this machine between me and my creativity.
“It was a natural step to take the subjects I was interested in, i.e. fashion and music, into painting.
"I think all of those values that were needed in graphic design, such as eye contact and lighting, still come into my painting.”
Passion
Bennett speaks so emphatically about her work that it’s easy to tell she’s driven by a real passion.
Perhaps that’s the secret to her success; in only four years she has already started to make a name for herself as a painter.
Not only was she labelled one of Saatchi’s new stars by The Independent in 2006, but she has been featured in many publications, including The Sunday Times, the Evening Standard and Artists and Illustrators magazine, as well as being "artist of the week" on the London Art Spot – a project that highlights the capital’s influence on art.
Style
“I do portraits that are a little bit abstract and a little bit drippy,” says Bennett.
But when asked what it is about her painting that makes it unique, she hesitates:
“I think it’s got the excitement of graffiti, but it’s recognisable as a portrait.
"So you get the audience of people that are interested in painters who can paint well, then you’ve got the street edge of drips and graffiti.”
Big break
Bennett received her "first big break" after being asked to produce a painting for Canadian musician Dan O’Connell, a.k.a the Thurston Revival’s Somewhere There’s an Angel – dubbed by The Sunday Times as “the most expensive debut single in the history of pop”, with only a hundred vinyl copies made and selling at £100 each as “a statement on the value of music in general”.
Her portrait of singer Dan O’Connell as an angel was chosen as the winner, and rated fifth in The Independent’s list of 2007’s best vinyl art covers.
“It got into the Evening Standard and The Sunday Telegraph, and it was really cool to go in the newsagents and go: ‘Look mum, I’m in this and this and this!'"
An exhibition based on the Thurston Revival cover sparked her relationship with Sartorial Contemporary art, one of the largest contemporary art sellers in London.
It’s hard not to smile around Bennett.
Personality
Confident, lively and bubbly, her laughter is contagious.
Although her current influences include Gavin Nolan, Richard Prince, Ed Templeton and Barry McGee, she admits her favourites are constantly changing.
“I’m the sort of person who makes a top 10 or top three. I guess that’s the music in me.”
Taking her inspiration from faces in fashion and ‘street’ magazines, such as Vogue and Q, Bennett’s idea process is, by her own admission, weird.
“I’ll probably have about 10 magazines and rip out 15 pictures that I’ll put up on the wall. I look at them for a bit and see who I want to become my friend, and I build up a sort of relationship with that picture.”
But Bennett is often disappointed when people recognise the person in the painting.
Representation
“It’s not about representing that person; it’s about the starting point to create some sort of feeling from them.”
“I create a character in my head of who that person is and actually name them as well."
"I don’t really like to paint famous people or want them to be the famous person in the painting.”
Despite this, she occasionly paints famous people as themselves.
She frantically flicks through her portfolio to find a picture of a six foot portrait of Dave Grohl that was bought by the owner of a record company.
“I don’t know if he owns Dave Grohl’s record company though!” she laughs.
Boy George
She is now working on a portrait of Boy George, who she got to know from standing outside his house when she was younger.
“He’d sometimes send me off to get some milk, or buy him some records,” she smiles, finding her childhood obsession humorous.
Her eyes light up and her speech hastens as she recalls:
“I once hurt myself really badly outside his house. I ran into a metal pole – I’ve got the scar on my leg from it. He called me a cab to the hospital and I got some stitches.”
Celebrities
Bennett’s interest in celebrities started at a young age.
“My Mum used to send off to Hollywood for pictures of Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe, so I think I’ve always been brought up to worship celebrity.”
Graduating from Camberwell College of Arts with a graphic design degree in 1997, Bennett has come back to Camberwell to develop her art skills, after gaining a distinction in a Fine Art BTEC from Kensington and Chelsea College, and initially enrolling on a BA (Hons) course in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art.
Camberwell
Currently in her second year of BA (Hons) Painting at Camberwell, she believes “the university environment is a wonderful thing. You’re all working within the same genre and you all have similar interests.”
“If you’re doing something good, just stick to it."
"The most important thing is to do it for yourself,” she advises those starting out in the art world.
“If you like it and you believe in it then other people will believe in you and like what you do in the end. You could be doing something really unfashionable.”
Not content with painting on canvas, Bennett has ventured into other forms, including a series of car bonnet portraits and a recent project using 17 televisions.
“Moving from canvas to the TVs was an exciting move forward."
"To actually produce something that was three dimensional and with sound was an exciting thing.”
Solo show
But she also cites her first solo show in 2008 at the Sassoon Gallery as one of her highlights.
Confident that this is “just the start” and that her style will develop over time, Bennett believes that her artwork will always be people-based.
Ambitious, quirky and committed; we’ll be hearing about Bennett for a long time to come.
Asked about the future, she gushes:
“I want to work really hard and carry on with what I’m doing, and further it, challenging it.”
“I’d like to win the Turner Prize in 10 years,” she giggles.
Despite having never collaborated on artwork, Bennett is open to the idea: “I’ve just got to find myself a Basquiat…because I’d be Warhol!”
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