David Bender is a painter, designer, and sculptor whose career has unfolded as a lifelong dialogue between curiosity and craft. After growing up in Montesano, Washington, and studying at The Burnley School of Art in Seattle, he arrived in New York with two hundred dollars and a sense of purpose that would shape his life’s trajectory. He spent a decade working in advertising for agencies such as Grey and DDB before co-founding JanklowBender, a creative venture that sharpened his eye for composition and visual storytelling. In 1991, he left the commercial world to follow his true vocation in the arts.
For more than three decades, Bender has maintained his Brooklyn art and design studio, creating paintings, murals, and sculptures that embody both discipline and discovery. His work has been exhibited at Scope Miami, The White Room Gallery, Woodward Gallery, Arcadia Contemporary, and Arden Gallery. Throughout this evolution, his central pursuit has remained constant: to approach each piece with the humility of not knowing.
His creative process is rooted in the idea of synchronicity. Drawn to literature, philosophy, and the serendipitous meeting of image and text, Bender allows these encounters to guide his direction. Each work is a conversation between intention and chance, intellect and instinct. He sees art-making as a form of cross-pollination, where ideas migrate between mediums, time periods, and natural rhythms.
Currently Exhibiting in: Brooklyn, NY
Web: studiobender.com
Instagram: @studiobender
Featured Artwork at Bushwick Gallery
Title: August Snow
Year of Creation: 2025
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 32 × 64 in
Edition Type: Unique, 1 of 1
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Price: $2,500
Description
August Snow captures a moment of environmental dissonance, a season out of sync with itself. Inspired by the shifting balance of the natural world, the painting evokes a world where summer light gives way to the hush of snowfall. The title alludes to the altered rhythm of nature, yet the composition suggests something more personal, a meditation on time, loss, and the fragile systems that sustain us.
The work draws upon the spirit of Prince’s song Sometimes It Snows in April, echoing its quiet melancholy and its awareness of impermanence. Bender’s surface shimmers with muted acrylic tones that reveal both restraint and reflection. The scene invites contemplation rather than alarm, offering a vision that is elegiac yet filled with reverence for the earth’s cyclical grace.
In August Snow, Bender explores what happens when beauty is forced out of season. It becomes both warning and poem, a gesture toward balance in an age of excess.
Exhibition Information
Exhibition Title: Vivid Force: The Power of Bold Color
Curated by: Michael O’Malley
Theme: Vivid Force brings together artists who use color as language, emotion, and evidence of being alive. Each work reclaims intensity not as spectacle but as sincerity.
Exhibition Dates: November 13 – November 20, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 13 / 6 PM – 8 PM
Private Showings and Events: Invite-only throughout the week