His piece ‘The Tabooist’ offers a whimsical homage to Norman Rockwell’s iconic ‘Tattoo Artist,’ reimagining classic imagery through pivotal elements drawn from the tapestry of Utah’s past. The work’s connection to Rockwell’s image is framed as a homage, while its treatment of that classic imagery incorporates elements associated with Utah’s history.
A graduate of Dixie High School, Ben Steele has spent his career in Helper, Utah, a former railroad and mining town that became, almost by accident, an artists’ enclave. His career is thus based in a place identified both by its earlier industrial history and by its later development as a community of artists.
Steele works out of a repurposed industrial building on Main Street, where he paints in a range of styles. The building’s earlier industrial use and its current role as his workplace are both part of the account of his practice, as is the breadth of styles in which he paints.
