Heather Bennett is a St. Louis-based multimedia artist who works across photography, video, drawing, text, sculpture and installation, often in collaboration with musicians and writers. Frequently using herself as a model, she restages fashion advertising and other familiar imagery to examine how women are represented in contemporary culture.
Bennett grew up in St. Louis and holds a BA in political science and a BFA in printmaking from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MFA in painting from Hunter College, New York (2001). After more than a decade in New York she returned home, and from 2014 to 2024 she taught full-time at the university’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, most recently as a senior lecturer.
Her work has been shown at Luxe Gallery and Stephan Stoyanov Gallery in New York, Eva Hober Gallery in Paris, Festival de la Luz in Buenos Aires and Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art in Salzburg and Vienna, and in several editions of Dangerous Beauty in New York, Bulgaria and Austria. In 2023 the University of Illinois Springfield presented her solo exhibition Night Watch (Origin of the World).
Bennett’s honors include Regional Arts Commission Artist Support Grants (2017, 2023) and the Somerville Art Prize (2002), and in 2017 she took part in the inaugural summer residency at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. She has had six solo exhibitions at Bruno David Gallery, most recently REMIX (2025), which reworked images from her own archive.
SELECTED WORKS
Heather Bennett Untitled (Dolce & Gabbana), 2002 Digital photograph on wood panel with resin, with Tony Gaddis 60 x 48 in. (152.4 x 121.9 cm) Unique
Heather Bennett Crush, 2011 Digital print on Somerset Velvet, with Matthew Lavite 42 x 63 in. (106.7 x 160 cm) Edition 2 of 3, framed
Heather Bennett Fairest x2, 2025 Digital prints on platine rag, diptych 32 x 21 in. each (81.3 x 53.3 cm each) Edition 1 of 3, framed
Heather Bennett Judy Veiled, 2023 Digital print on platine rag 24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm) Edition 1 of 3, framed
Heather Bennett Replica (Dolce), 2025 Ink and pencil on rag with photograph 54 x 40 1/2 in. (137.2 x 102.9 cm) Unique, framed
Heather Bennett Dolce Veiled, 2025 Digital print on platine rag 36 x 54 in. (91.4 x 137.2 cm) Edition 1 of 3, framed
Heather Bennett Judy Concatenated, 2023 Digital print, projection on Judy (2005), sound, 2:28 min.; voice and text: H. Bennett; guitar and mix: Jon Lumley Dimensions variable Unique
Heather Bennett 3 Graces, 2025 Digital print, pillows, mirrors, sound, 1:26 min.; voice, text and mix: H. Bennett; with Gail Bennett and Jeanne Youngblood Scott 72 x 84 x 6 in. (182.9 x 213.4 x 15.2 cm), dimensions variable Unique
Heather Bennett Sisley Redux, 2025 Video with sound, 2:20 min.; voice, text and mix with Tom Sandoval Edition of 10
Heather Bennett Sisley Polaroid, 2002/08 Polaroid from Untitled (Sisley); pigmented print on Somerset Velvet, with Tom Sandoval 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm) Edition 3 of 3, framed
Heather Bennett D&G Polaroid, 2002/08 Polaroid from Untitled (Dolce & Gabbana); pigmented print on Somerset Velvet 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm) Edition 1 of 3, framed
Heather Bennett Jeanne, Gail and Heather SG2, 2005/08 35 mm snapshot from Sorority Girls; pigmented print on Somerset Velvet 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm) Edition 1 of 3, framed
Heather Bennett Ace for JLM, 2015 Pigmented print on platine rag paper 42 1/16 x 62 15/16 in. (106.7 x 160 cm)
Heather Bennett Blueprint Kit for Lilly, 2016 Pigmented print on platine rag paper 42 1/16 x 62 15/16 in. (106.7 x 160 cm)
Heather Bennett Tux Ruffles for Coreos, 2016 Pigmented print on platine rag paper 42 1/16 x 62 15/16 in. (106.7 x 160 cm)
Heather Bennett The Loved One for JLM, 2016 Pigmented print on platine rag paper 42 1/16 x 62 15/16 in. (106.7 x 160 cm)
Heather Bennett Pine Valley, 2018 Pigmented print on platine rag paper 44 1/16 x 65 in. (111.8 x 165.1 cm)
EXHIBITIONS
VISUAL ARTS GALLERY, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
Night Watch (Origin of the World)
Solo exhibition
19 October – 16 November 2023
NEWS
GROUP EXHIBITION
What (un)Becomes, with Arny Nadler and Monika Weiss
Sam Fox School Gallery, St. Louis, November 2026
TWO-PERSON EXHIBITION
Beyond Rule, with Nina Ruseva
Center of Contemporary Art, Burgas, Bulgaria, August 2026
PUBLICATIONS
SELECTED PRESS
PRESS
Get to know some of St. Louis’ most exciting visual artists
St. Louis Magazine, Melissa Meinzer, March 2023
PRESS
New work by Heather Bennett at Monaco
The Source (Washington University), Liam Otten, March 2020
PRESS
Local photographer returns with project four years in the making
St. Louis Public Radio, March 2015
REVIEW
Photographic Fiction and Fact in the LES
The Village Voice, R.C. Baker, April 2014