Doug Bennett is an artist based in Raleigh, NC. His work has been exhibited nationally and is held in both public and private collections. He holds a BFA from Ohio University and an MFA from Columbia University. While his primary focus is painting, he spent over two decades as a Master Printmaker in New York City, collaborating with both established and emerging artists in some of the country’s most prestigious print studios.

In his recent work he uses the carousel, with its endless loop and playful nature, as a symbol of nostalgia and the idealized past. Likewise, the brass ring stands in as a fleeting emblem of success, reflecting our shared pursuit of meaning and the elusive nature of memory.

The series Menagerie: An Exquisite Corpse Carousel, reimagines the carousel through a surrealist lens. Inspired by the game Cadavre Exquis, traditional horses are replaced with hybrid creatures - mismatched animal parts forming bizarre, often comical figures. These strange beings offer a distorted reflection of nostalgia and the myths we construct around the past.

His latest work, Wish You Were Here, takes its inspiration from vintage advertisements that once used carousel imagery to sell everything from motor oil to soda. In an effort to subvert their sentimentality, the familiar horses are gone, replaced by unsettling patchwork animals that fracture the comforting glow of memory. Bold colors and warped forms challenge our perception of reality, revealing nostalgia as both alluring and deceptive.