John Brent Bennett
Since 1979, the Inuit Gallery has been a leader in the appreciation and development of Inuit and Northwest Coast art in Vancouver. To that end, we are pleased to represent artist John Brent Bennett in this collection of eight limited editions prints. Bennett traces his artistic foundation to his mother Joyce Bennett, a well-known Northwest Coast clothing designer, and his uncle, the acclaimed Haida artist Robert Davidson. Born and raised in Masset, Haida Gwaii, Bennett graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2003, where he carved a twelve foot totem pole as his graduating project. He continued his education in fine arts at Concordia University in Montreal, obtaining his Masters of Fine Arts with a specialization in printmaking.
From the unforgiving and relentless atmosphere of suffocation present in Caught in the Grip – created as Bennett’s response to finding his Montreal apartment burglarized after a trip to Haida Gwaii - to Henslung’s bold affirmation of the artist’s personal and professional identity, Bennett’s prints reveal an unflinchingly critical mind that respects his cultural roots while re-defining his heritage in a new light.