About
Spencer Bennett
American, born 1980
Spencer Bennett is a painter based in Richmond, Virginia. He works by hand, in mixed media, on walls, panels, and signs.
His commissioned work is built from what the client already has: an idea, a logo, an old sign, a box of photographs nobody has opened in years. Most commissions begin with an idea and no design. He researches the idea, develops it with the client, and paints it. The result is an original work of art, one of one, made for one client, not just another paint job.
He is self-taught. He developed his style painting graffiti in the 1990s, in a world where everyone's style has to be their own and nobody else's, and where getting it wrong has real consequences. There he learned how far a letter can be changed and still be read, and there he built a style that others copy today. Since then he has worked in many kinds of painting, from fully abstract to photorealistic, and he keeps returning to lettering in the form of signs.
Representation is handled by Untitled Mixed Media. The studio is taking commissions for murals and hand-painted signs.
How I work
Every project starts with what the client already has: an idea, old photographs, the history of the building. I do not use a template. I research it, develop it with them, and design it for that job only.
Because it is built from the client's own idea and history, it cannot be copied onto another wall. That is what makes it a landmark and not a lookalike. A landmark is the thing people use to tell one place from another.
Before any paint is bought, the client sees a photorealistic render of the finished design on a photo of their own wall, in the real light for that address. Nothing gets painted until that render is approved.
I carry general liability insurance and can name the client as additional insured.
Selected commissions
- 2025Short Pump Park MuralHenrico County Recreation and Parks
- 2022Carytown Monarch MuralNorthbank Partners
- 2021The Trolley BarnJDC Management Co
Landmarks, not lookalikes.