Stephen Bennett is an extraordinary portrait painter who has dedicated the past 15 years traveling to remote corners of over 23 countries to capture the essence of indigenous faces throughout our world. Bennett's love for the human face is in scale with the size of his canvases. Most portraits are 7'x5' and the Aboriginal portrait below with Bennett is his largest to date at 10'x9'! Young, old, joyful, and withered faces populate these vibrant canvases, celebrating cultural diversity with intricate brush strokes of paint that he's hand-mixed from pigments.

Stephen has keen sense of observation, and a fine sensitivity to recreate the overall beauty of a face and the depth of a certain gaze. He succeeds in his artistic endeavors thanks to his appreciation of human differences, his generosity, and his desire to understand others. He interprets his subjects through a modified photorealism by using  an intuitive use of color. For Stephen, a face is a treasure!

From first grade, Stephen Bennett was called the “class artist” and by 16 was drawing and painting portraits of family and friends. He attended Schenectady Community College, Russell Sage College and State University of  New York at New Paltz taking every Fine Art and Color Theory class available. In 1991 he discovered his passion for indigenous faces during his first trip abroad – to Japan. He was compelled to sketch peoples faces in the streets and on the subway returning with a sketch book full of fascinating, exotic faces. After spending 8 months in the Yucatan Penisula of Mexico painting 30 watercolor portraits, his fate as a portrait artist was sealed. He returned in 1994 to paint 40, extra large, colorful portraits of indigenous peoples of Mayan decent.

In 2004, he painted an honorary portrait of Sharon Stone, commissioned for amFAR. Bennett’s portraits are in the private collections of Michelle Pfeiffer, Senator Arlen Spector, Tom Brokaw, The President of Panama, and Cuba’s Fidel Castro, among others. His work has also been used to celebrate indigenous cultures through EXHIBITS in private and National Galleries located in Tanzania, Brunei, Sarawak, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, St. Martin, Panama, France, French Polynesia, the Seychelles and the United States.

In July and August of 2007, The United Nations Headquarters in New York requested use of 12 portraits to help enhance an exhibit that featured the artwork of Indigenous People. In August, 2009 the United Nations Exhibits Committee has asked him to install a more extensive exhibit. This month long exhibit will correspond with the issue of 18 postage stamps of Stephen Bennett's World Portraits that have been chosen by the United Nations Postal Administration. The 2009 Indigenous Peoples series of stamps will be issued in 3 countries and 3 languages at the United Nations headquarters and offices located in Austria, Switzerland and the United States. Exact dates to be confirmed.

Stephen is also driven by a desire to complete an international exhibition of 1,000 portraits from the world over, painted by his own hand. This enormous project is ambitious, but needed at a time when the world is particularly conflicted. The common thread throughout his work is to illuminate our common humanity that is apparent when looking into each portrait's soulful eyes.

Stephen is founder of "Faces of the World", a non-profit corporation with the mission of increasing cultural pride and affirming the importance of indigenous cultures. Stephen enjoys offering Portrait Workshops in each of the countries he visits. These workshops truly help children take pride in themselves and their culture through portraiture. Upon returning to New York, he then teaches Portrait Workshops to students in the USA. Sharing his portraits of indigenous people, the children's self-portraits and his cultural knowledge opens them to understanding and compassion for others globally.  "Faces of the World" is funded from the sale of Bennett's World Portraits, Commissions, Donations and Sponsorship. For more information go to www.facesoftheworld.net