This past weekend on May 31st, the Monmouth Museum held an Opening Reception for its newest installation in the Monmouth Museum New Jersey Emerging Artists Series featuring Andrew Bencsko III and his whimsical works of art. Andrew Bencsko: ex tempore, consists of a total of 27 pieces, which are all created with Oil Pastel on Arches Oil Paper.
Andrew Bencsko graduated from the School of Arts back in 1991, and at that time, he thought that he wanted to be a professional artist. Soon after that, he quickly realized that he was making art with no interest in opening or being involved in galleries, or any part of that scene for that matter. He also thought that he wanted to go for his masters in fine arts, but essentially chose not to, and found himself in graphic design. He then was a graphic designer for 9 years, and he still continues to paint and draw (obviously) in his home state of New Jersey. Bencsko used to do a lot of on location work, which eventually ended up progressing into him getting his masters, and starting to teach art. In fact, he still teaches art and graphic design in New York City, to sophomores, juniors, and AP seniors, calling himself “deep-rooted in education”. He made it his mission to be a good example to his high school students in New York City (a handful of them being in attendance at the Opening Reception Friday) by painting more, then realizing he was putting so much energy into that and continuing to feed that passion to the point where passion was being fed back to him. Bencsko essentially set an example for his students to keep chasing after what they want in life, by adding “I told my students, “Look I apply to these things here and there, 99% of the time I don’t get them, but when I do get them it feels awesome.””
The words “ex tempore” can mean many things, and they have many synonyms. The formal definition of the term is spoken or done without preparation, but synonyms include words like impromptu, spontaneous, ad lib, and many more. However, as for Andrew Bencsko, the phrase “ex tempore” can be seen as more of an action, or verb. When inspiration strikes (which it usually does on his morning commute via city bike in NYC), he pulls over and immediately sketches whatever is on his mind. “As spontaneously as I encounter these subjects and my mind composes them, I paint with the same sense of immediacy, ex tempore - on the spur of the moment, for even the slightest shift in time or space will create a new perspective and that moment is lost,” explains Bencsko. All of his pieces are based on reality, and he’s fascinated and more interested in how things are found haphazardly together; things that don’t make sense.
For example, his Lexington series, including his pieces Lexington: On My Mind, Lexington: Revisited, Lexington Leftover, and Lexington Treasure were all actually based on references relating to construction on Lexington Avenue in NYC. “I ride city bike back to Penn station, and I would pull over, and I would take references, and I would do sketches and I would combine them and that’s how I get my compositions,” said Bencsko.
Bencsko, believe it or not, usually completes most of his pieces while he is working. He also made an interesting observation that if he stays up late at night watching a TV show, it is harder for him to wake up at 4:30am the next morning to prepare for his commute to work. However, if he stays up until midnight or 1 o’clock in the morning painting and working on a piece, he can wake up at 4:30am no problem, with no exhaustion. “There’s something that I think just kind of feeds me and yeah so, it’s pretty cool. I find that the art doesn’t really take away from anything, I think it kind of advances me,” adds Bencsko.
One important component of art is how artists name their paintings. Andrew’s audience may even be wondering how he comes up with the names his pieces. When asked this question, he replied with “It can be anywhere from bits of song titles, to I don’t know, quirky sayings or anything that comes to mind. In fact, the titles are mostly quirky sayings and bits of songs, like “She comes in colors”, that’s actually from “She’s a Rainbow” by the Rolling Stones because I was doing a series of bright colors which is rare for me.”
In conclusion, all of Andrew’s pieces will be available for viewing between May 31st- June 30th, 2019 in the Nilson Gallery located at the Monmouth Museum.
His Gallery Talk will also be held Wednesday, June 5th, from 7:00pm – 8:00pm at the Monmouth Museum.
Written By: Cassandra Cinque
Monmouth Museum Communications Assistant
Monmouth University Student
Pictured:
Andrew Bencsko "Lexington Series" ~ All Oil Pastel on Arches Oil Paper
"Lexington: Revisited" ~ $500 (Top Left)
"Lexington: On My Mind" ~ $500 (Top Right)
"Lexington Leftover" ~ $550 (Bottom Left)
"Lexington Treasure" ~ $550 (Bottom Right)
