Jade Bentley
We know artists...
With a range of works from many of New Zealand's most impressive, emerging and established artists, we are privileged to be able to bring you the best contemporary art New Zealand has to offer. Click on an artist's name to see examples of their work.
Looking for an artist?
Click and select artist.
Born into a supportive arts background of DIY construction, innovative creations and a certain no.8 wire aesthetic, Jade Bentley has always had a passion to make and create art. Bentley attended Whitecliffe College of Art & Design, graduating in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in Painting. She currently divides her time between her art practice and her career as an art consultant.
Her series of gestural ink drawings emerged through detailed studies of the human form, combining the attention to detail required of the formal properties of the subject with the loose play of line and gesture afforded by the media of graphite and ink and the techniques of their application. Harnessing the elemental concepts of abstract expressionism, Bentley's image is formed at the intersection of line and shadow. As the subject begins to take shape, a narrative of expression and layering, gestural marks and the autonomous movement of ink collides to obscure and reveal certain aspects of the human form, driving the work along a thin line between the ambiguity of abstraction and the definitive form representation.
As Bentley notes of her technique, &ldquo I have always enjoyed creating with paper elements and packaging. I enjoy the principles of abstract expressionism and playing with the aesthetics of composition, balance, shape and colour through an expressive, gestural abstract style.
Bentley continues to exhibit in group shows and produce work from her Grey Lynn studio.