Maurice Bennett

Maurice Bennett

Maurice Bennett is an artist in New Zealand who uses toast as an artistic medium in mosaic. The billboard-size images are made up in pixel form, using a slice of toast for each pixel. The toast is soaked in polyurethane to preserve the artwork. His portraits include Mona Lisa, Elvis Presley, US President Barack Obama, Mayor of New Zealand Mark Blumsky, and rugby player Jonah Lomu. His work has been featured on Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Tapa Cloth Samoa, 1.2m x 1.2m (2006)

Biography

Born in Paeroa, New Zealand in the late 1950s, Maurice Bennett spent his youth moving around rural townships with his family, settling for a while in Whakatane where he attended the local high school. After college, Maurice completed a Certificate in Civil Engineering at Auckland Technical Institute followed closely by two years’ study towards a Bachelor of Architecture at Auckland University. As a young man, Maurice was absorbed in all forms of art. He traveled throughout the US and Europe, visiting museums and art galleries where his appreciation in both traditional and more offbeat art styles grew.

Exhibits

Toast art

2010 “Toast Art Picasso”, K11 mall, Hong Kong 2009 South Coast Gallery, Wellington, NZ 2006 South Coast Gallery, Wellington, NZ 2002 Walrus Gallery, Wellington, NZ 2002 “Eat This”, Café Brava, Wellington, NZ

Burning desire

1998 “Burning Desire”, 191 Cuba Street, Wellington, NZ

Sculptural canvas

1986 Tamura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 1986 The Famous Last and First Café, Auckland, NZ 1985 The Famous Last and First Café, Auckland, NZ 1984 The Performance Café, Auckland, NZ

Mona Lisa, 7.2m x 4.8m (2001)

Elvis Presley, 2.4m x 2.4m (2002)

Barack Obama, 2.7m x 2.4m (2010)

Awards

1999 Wellington Fringe Festival Art Award

References

Sources: <South China Morning Post Hong Kong (30 July 2010) p C2></Wellingtonian, Wellington, NZ (29 January 2009) p 7, "A welcome toast to Newtown Gallery"/ Jim Chipp></Dominion Post, Wellington, NZ (2 February 2009) p A6, "Toastman talks about living with the Big C"/ Britton Broun></Sunday Star Times, Wellington, NZ (24 February 2002), "Quirky portraits are the toast of Wellington"/ Sarah Catherall></Capital Times, Wellington, NZ (6-12 January 2001) p 5, "Toast master">

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Name	Bennett, Maurice
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