Being an artist isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Regardless of the medium, getting started and getting known is difficult. Just ask Ottawa painter Benjamin Rodger. “I work 10 to 12 hours a day seven days a week,” he says.
Benjamin doesn’t paint as a hobby; he’s serious about his career. His work ethic has gotten him more than a simple pat on the back. His peers have recognized his work through numerous awards. In fact, you could say he shines on the art scene in the National Capital Region.
In 2009, he represented Canada at the VI Jeux de la Francophonie in Beirut, Lebanon. In 2010, he received a Bourse de création et de production artistique from the Franco-Ontarian foundation and in 2011, he received the Artistes visuels et métiers d’art grant from the Ontario Arts Council.
On top of all this recognition, Benjamin, like half of the artists in Canada, received a higher education. Benjamin holds a Bachelor of Fine Art with a Major Studio Art from Concordia University and a Diplôme national supérieur d’expression plastique from l’École nationale supérieure d’art de la Villa Arson in Nice. Clearly, the young Franco-Ontarian is dedicated. “A painting usually takes me about 100 hours to complete,” said Benjamin, who paints meticulously.
His style combines precise motifs with human figures completed with a complex and precises system using masking tape. “I use these tiny paint brushes to add a lot of detail,” said Benjamin. “I can’t have too many cups of coffee in the morning or else it becomes quite difficult,” said the chuckling artist as he imitated a shaking hand. A trembling grip would ruin his career, but financial turmoil could also mean the end.
Besides renting his studio in old Hull, other expenses grind away at Benjamin’s budget. “The equipment is very expensive now,” said Benjamin, “a small tube of paint used to be $7 and now it’s gone up to $14.” The price of supplies not only reduces his budget, but his vision. Benjamin, known for his huge paintings, had to settle for smaller canvases this time around. “The first reason my paintings are smaller is because, well… because of money,” explained Benjamin, with a good-natured chortle.
His smaller paintings were created for the exhibition Nelligan’s at Gallery St-Laurent + Hill. Emile Nelligan’s last poem before being admitted to a psychiatric hospital, La Romance du Vin, was the starting point for all the artworks. “The characters in my paintings express their emotion as they dictate the poem,” said Benjamin, whose paintings will be up until March 28, 2012. This is Benjamin’s 19 exposition and making money remains complicated. “If I sell a painting, galleries usually take a 50 percent cut,” explained Benjamin, “but galleries also struggle to make money.”
Realizing the art scene’s heartaches, the City of Ottawa created the 20/20 Arts Plan to keep artists in Ottawa. Increasing the per capita arts funding was one of their goals, and between 2003 and 2008 investment grew by $2.44 per capita. “You can feel Ottawa grow, art is beginning to take a bigger place here,” said Benjamin. “When I came back from France, I felt there was something going on here and I decided to stay.”
The City of Ottawa reported that artist’s median earnings were $1,317 a month compared to $2,440 for the rest of the labour force. Furthermore, the 140,000 artists in Canada often do not receive provincial worker compensations and many don’t qualify for employment insurance. According to the Canadian Conference of the Arts, the principal issues affecting artists are their low earning, since a high-proportion of artists are self-employed and have dramatically fluctuating incomes. While their salaries often vary, their bills usually don’t.
Benjamin Rodger’s Nelligan will be showing at Gallery St-Laurent + Hill (293 Dalhousie) until March 28.
