the BEAST

Thomas W. Benton was a native of Oakland, CA. This piece is a reference to a graphic he had designed which appeared on the cover of, "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72" by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. The graphic and other iterations of it also appeared on political posters designed by Benton to express particular disdain for the Nixon Administration. Given the present-day political climate in the United States [June, 2016], I felt myself compelled... not only to try and depict this moment in our history, but to also attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of Benton's work -- not only in terms of aesthetics and message, but importance, as well. If I were to compare Benton's work to a weapon: It fires just as straight and true now as it had then. And it requires very little modification to make it relevant without diminishing its capacity to do the job for which it was intended. I encourage anyone to acquaint themselves with Benton's work and to visit his website: www.tomwbenton.com