Anyways, here’s a sexy panoramic picture of the Bulls at the United Center seconds before beating the Raptors in OT with a split-second buzzer-beater a week ago. I forgot I had these on my phone (we partied hard after)..spliced about 9 of these things together for this, but my chili is burning! See ya in 4 months!

-Bendorama

Whoa, it sure has been a while. But for good reason, of course. New paintings, designs, and photographs are up in the portfolio section. I’m currently working on setting up a shop to get all 3 of you out there who want to buy prints a little something to hang up this winter, please be patient!

But enough excuses, what I really wanted to do is post a formal note about a recent trip I took to the homeland (Detroit, MI) this past fall. The decay, and miraculous artistic uprising in recent years, is absolutely captivating. Needless to say; it was emotional, inspiring, and at the very least…humbling.

—Bendey

This will be a painting sooner than you may think. This is currently a pencil drawing, outlined with ink pen, and some added support from the classic red crayon. All though it’s very crude at this point, you’ll see a very refined (yet terrifyingly raw) version of such artwork come to life…(and/or death). I’m going to pass on a poem that I wrote a long time ago, but resonates the state of mind I was in when this was done.

Death.
A Breath.
His Chest.
Let Him Be.

The Bones Stay.
Muscles Rubber.
Squeeze.
The Warmth Is Mine.

Speech Interrupted.
Life Stopped.
Cold.

Close The Door.
Seal Me Away.
Listen.

Trace With Fingertips.
Watch This.
Tears Slick The Skin.
And The Paper Has Life.

Portion The Chemicals.
Charge His Void.
Move In Motion.
And Listen To A Scream.

A Flutter.
The Wind Presses.
I Feel.
Close My Eyes.

The Warmth Is Mine.
The Bones Stay.

Let Me Be.
His Chest.
Is My Breath.

Death.

☛ Bendey.

It’s no secret; this is about a girl, a relationship, and subsequently what happened to it. The title of this piece is “A–Ztory”, because that’s really all it is. It’s not a love poem or a desperate attempt to fight for attention. It’s just a story.

And the ending is terrible.

☛ Bendey

Ahh…that new blog smell…mmm!

It’s like walking into your house after a long vacation; but suddenly being reminded of how much you stink up any place you’re in.

I have spent months brainstorming, formulating, coding, and building this new website with hopes to streamline my presence on this thing called the “intranet” for my own sake, as well as yours. Although I suck at the previously mentioned process—and have no problem admitting so—I have to say it’s with great honor, that I push Bendey.com off on it’s maiden voyage with a post that you’re probably too busy to read.

If you’ve made it this far…this blog will be a free-for-all dump of things that make me tick. You’ll see updates on what I’m working on/not working on, things that inspire me, and probably some pretty weird shit.

For anyone new to who I am and/or what I do; I am 24 years old and am an art director for an advertising/marketing firm in Chicago, Illinois. Before that, I was a graffiti artist residing in the beautiful state of Michigan. When I was 18 I launched Underground Art Concepts and a blog titled “The Vivid Underground“, which have since been purposely dissolved. All though both sites were quite successful, I found the need to condense “who I am” into one central touch-point, as well as clean my act up. So with that being said, I am Matthew Bender, I do stuff here and sometimes there. Welcome to my site, blog, work, and hopefully a quick dose of something to make you smile.

And please—call me Bendey.

Yours Unruly,

Bendey