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Canadian artist Tom Benner leaves behind legacy of iconic work, including London's beloved “White Rhino"

9/25/2022

1 Comment

 
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Tom Benner (left) in his studio with his brother Ron Benner in front of Tom's recent sculpture, "Polar Bear," 2019 (in progress in Tom’s studio). Photo Credit Tariq Hassan Gordon, January 2019.
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Tom Benner's “White Rhino" (1986) sculpture with a black armband in honour of his passing. Photo Credit: Jamelie Hassan on Wednesday, September 21, 2022.
With great sadness, we share the news of the passing of Canadian artist Tom Benner, who died at home in London, Ontario, on September 21, 2022, at age 72. 
 
Tom is well known in London for his iconic White Rhino, from 1985-86, a metal sculpture installed on the grounds of Museum London. His work often signaled the tension between humans, non-humans, and the environment. While using a range of materials and processes, he presciently created large-scale sculptures of endangered species that engaged with a broad public and raised awareness of the climate crisis we presently face. It is no exaggeration that Tom Benner's White Rhino is this city's most beloved public artwork.

In 1990, Tom Benner presented a solo exhibition at the ECH. The exhibition was a series of works titled “The Coves" and was organized by Doug Mitchell. Among other works in the collection of Museum London is the powerful Hanging Fin (Whale) sculpture from 1983.

In honour of Tom, Embassy Cultural House co-founder and artist Ron Benner (brother of Tom Benner) has placed a black armband on the White Rhino to commemorate Tom's passing. 
 
ECH joins with many individuals and institutions to commemorate Tom and to celebrate his life and work and the many important connections he made within our communities in Canada and internationally.
 
In memory of Tom, the Embassy Cultural House has made a donation to the recently inaugurated New School of the Anthropocene based in London, UK. 
 
For recent news on the passing of Tom, please visit these articles.

CBC: Canadian artist Tom Benner, known for eye-catching animal sculptures, dead at 72
​
Museum London: Tom Benner (1950-2022)
 
We have set up a tribute page here.
 
With love and solidarity, 
The ECH Team
1 Comment
Muhammad Hassan BA LLB LSO 1979, Mediator 1979 link
9/28/2022 12:23:25 am

Tom was filled with so many wonderful qualities. That probably explains his lovely children and grandchildren who my children and nephew, had the pleasure of going to school with before all wandered off as adults each finding their own ways. Leif his son is a fine artist and is jewellery designer and maker practicing his trade in Toronto. I have the great boulders mentioned in my back yard. I pretend to lift Benner's giant boulders when I need a laugh. Tom wanted to find a home for them so Ron and I went and gathered them from their late mom's house in "Oakridge Acres" as she was moving and that's where Tom had entrusted them to her yard. I also enjoy seeing Tom's works every day in my home an at my office (one beautiful Cove piece on loan form Salahdean Hassan my borther - it is a special one of his Cove series he did for a fantastic show based on his knowledge of our neighbourhood where he lived for a time oddly around the corner from our Hassan home on Erie Ave. Both of us overlooked the Coves (I still do) while his Grandma's where he and Ron and the other kids spent time was on Wharncliffe Rd near Bruce just around the corner when the Coves were not yet filled in. Tom was a teacher and quite learned. He often hid his wisdom & brilliance behind sardonic humour and jokes. He was a union man and had no patience for snobs. I miss him already. Hamoody Hassan

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EDITORIAL TEAM

ONLINE FOUNDER
Tariq Hassan Gordon

COFOUNDERS & CURATORIAL ADVISORS 
 
Jamelie Hassan 
& Ron Benner

ADVISORY CIRCLE
Samer Abdelnour, Marnie Fleming, Wyn Geleynse, Fern Helfand, S F Ho, Lorraine Klaasen, Judith Rodger, Ruth Skinner, Mary Lou and Dan Smoke,  and Lucas Stenning 

COORDINATING EDITORS
Tariq Hassan Gordon & 
Olivia Mossuto

WEB DESIGN & SOCIAL MEDIA 
Tariq Hassan Gordon, Ira Kazi, Olivia Mossuto, Niloufar Salimi,  JoAnna Weil 

VIRTUAL TOUR
Andreas Buchwaldt

PRINT PUBLICATIONS
Blessy Augustine, Shelley Kopp, 
Olivia Mossuto

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Andreas Buchwaldt, Blessy Augustine, Anahí González, Ira Kazi, ​Shelley Kopp, Ashar Mobeen, Niloufar Salimi,  Jenna Rose Sands, JoAnna Weil & Michelle Wilson. 

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OUR STORY
Artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner and jazz musician Eric Stach founded the Embassy Cultural House (1983-1990) located in the restaurant portion of the Embassy Hotel at 732 Dundas Street in East London. Other former members of the board were: Debrann Eastabrook, Henry Eastabrook, Sharron Forrest, Wyn Geleynse, Janice Gurney, Jean Hay (1929 - 2008), Doug Mitchell, Kim Moodie, Gerard Pas, Peter Rist, Wanda Sawicki, Jean Spence and Jennie White. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and website. 

This project is supported by the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council through the City of London's Community Arts Investment Program.
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Thank you to our partners

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E M B A S S Y  C U L T U R A L  H O U S E . C A

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