Mark Bennett: Fantasy Blueprints of Classic TV Homes

Mark Bennett: Fantasy Blueprints of Classic TV Homes

Mark Bennett is one of the most engaging and original artists working today. His vision of art in the 21st Century and his constructed realities derived from television are as in tune to our pop culture now as Warhol and Lichtenstein were in the early 60’s when they were inspired by movies and comic books (the television of their day). In this viewing room, we a very pleased to present all available works from Bennett's highly-acclaimed fantasy blueprints DREAM HOME Series from 1995 to present.
"I wanted to be a part of those TV families." - Mark Bennett
“Come and listen to a story ‘bout a man named Jed..." So you know "The Beverly Hillbillies" theme song. Big deal. But do you remember where Granny kept her moonshine still, and where Elly Mae's critters resided? If you don't, that's OK, because the floor plans that Mark Bennett has drawn of Jed Clampett's mansion at 518 Crestview Drive in Beverly Hills show Granny's still in the back yard, within spitting distance of Elly Mae's critters by the cement pond. Bennett, a 65-year-old former art teacher cum draftsman cum retired Beverly Hills letter carrier, has been drawing floor plans of TV homes and offices since he was 10, sketching in front of the tube in his Tennessee home. He drew Rob and Laura's house, then Ward and June's, eventually moving on to the Jetsons, the Bunkers, the Stephenses, the Ricardos (all three of their residences), Perry Mason, and the Cunninghams. His research consists of watching as many episodes as possible; the actual drafting takes anywhere from a day to a week. It's the details that Bennett loves: the precise location of Wednesday Addams' play graves in the front yard; the hall Lucy uses to get to the Mertzes' apartment; where Ward and June Cleaver kept their firewood behind the garage, and even where Sheriff Andy Taylor's property line ended. He lists items that would never appear on a traditional floor plan, including phone numbers (Mary Richards' is 555-2312), models of cars in the driveway or the seating arrangement around the dining room table. "If I can identify a neighbor's name,” says Bennett,“then I'm really excited." Architecturally, some of the houses are "ridiculous" (many, for instance, did not seem to possess a bathroom). The set designers often placed a window where structurally there should have been a wall. The designers of the Clampett mansion, Bennett says, were among the worst offenders: "There are windows that look onto gardens that would never exist if the house were really built." The homes from "The Addams Family" and "The Munsters” were, not surprisingly, among the hardest to draw. "The Victorian homes can be a real bear because there are lots of nooks and crannies. And some of the other homes were hard to do because the outdoor set or facade and the indoor set often don't match, so you have to figure out how to make up for the differences." --Emily Gest Los Angeles Times Magazine
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mark Bennett (b. 1956, Tennessee) has been included in numerous significant museum and group exhibitions, including those at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (D.C.), Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art (CT), Walker Art Center (MN) and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (CA). His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (NY), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (CA), Orange County Museum of Art (CA), Corcoran Gallery of Art (DC), and the Portland Art Museum (OR), among many others.
Mark Bennett in his studio (2021)