About the Artist:National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) fellow, Ben Livingston was Born 1958 in Victoria, Texas into a creative family. His mother, Polly Lou Livingston, known for her voice and personality of Tree Trunks, on "Adventure Time with Finn and Jake".
Livingston spent much of his childhood creating allegorical scenes that were playing in his mind. He also liked making other things, like stories and songs, which blossomed with international critical acclaim at age 50.
In 1992, Ivan Karp of the OK Harris Gallery in the SOHO district of New York City saw Ben's paintings and offered him a place in his stable of artists with the agreement that he move there from Texas.
Harris was involved in launching the careers of artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist, Frank Stella, and John Chamberlain.
Livingston's signing off from aspirations as a "highfalutin" artist in New York City is defined by his solution oriented painting: "How I Decided NOT to Move to New York".
The paintings exhibited for this series are from that body of work.