Ben

“Ben” is one of a series of photorealistic paintings by Scott McDermott. The reaction to these paintings by the viewers has been fun to watch by all of us at the SEAD Gallery. We often hear exclamations of surprise when people draw near the painting and discover it actually is not a photograph. It also has been a great kid magnet, with many little boys (and some girls) ooohing and aaahing at the almost life size man glancing back over his shoulder to see who is behind him on the track.

“Ben” combines McDermott’s two favorite things: racing motorcycles and art. He remembers standing at the track in Denton, Texas, with the fastest man he knew at the time in the mid-90s, when an eleven year old kid named Ben came running up to tell the racer that he’d “almost caught him the last time out!” Since then, Ben has made Texas proud, winning three national championships, one world championship and currently races in the MotoGP World Championship.

The art speaks for itself, almost coming off the wall with movement and velocity. You can almost hear the whine of a motorcycle speeding past you when looking at “Ben.”