Lights, camera, art action

JACK BENDER describes himself as “a painter in a director’s body,” but even as he prepares for the Saturday opening of his first major solo exhibition, “Jack Bender: Found,” at the Beverly Hills gallery Timothy Yarger Fine Art through Sept. 25, it’s doubtful that he’ll be quitting his day job any time soon.

He is, after all, living just six blocks from Diamond Head on Oahu, Hawaii, for his latest gig. What’s more, he just happens to be the Emmy-winning director of “Lost” and is nominated for another Emmy at this Sunday’s award presentation.

At 12, Bender received his first set of oil paints, which he describes as being “like that ape in ‘2001’ getting ahold of that bone and showing it up in the air” -- and was hooked. That led to studying fine art and drama at USC.

He didn’t become a full-time artist. He instead pursued his other passion: directing. Before “Lost,” he worked on a number of long-running series, including “Felicity,” “Alias” and “The Sopranos.” Making shows about jet-setting secret agents, New Jersey gangsters and castaways on a deserted island means often being on location, so his hiatuses are usually devoted to painting at his home in L.A.

“My career and my livelihood have been producing and directing, which I adore,” says Bender, 56, on the phone from Hawaii, where he is beginning to shoot the next season of “Lost.”

“At the same time, I can sit and watch a splash of paint on a canvas or a drip of a color on something that I’m working on for two hours and be completely carried away,” he adds.

Gallery owner-director Timothy Yarger says he decided to represent Bender after the two were introduced by a mutual friend. Yarger, whose gallery specializes in 20th century masters including Miro, Picasso and Lichtenstein along with established and emerging contemporary artists, says he was struck by Bender’s palette, figuration and compositions. He appreciates how one of Bender’s crafts can complement the other.

“Jack is a storyteller. He’s modest yet confident, experienced yet has a naivete about him. I think those elements reveal themselves in the paintings,” Yarger says. “His storytelling interest as a television director and producer -- weaving the narrative, making suggestions so that the viewer takes the story wherever the viewer wants to take it -- that’s self-evident in the paintings.”

One of the stories behind a multimedia piece titled “Cinderella’s Always Late” involves seeing his wife after she went through a painful surgery. He went home, grabbed one of her high heels and dipped it in red enamel paint to make it “look a little bloody.” Some time later, Bender was completely taken that the collector who bought the piece displayed it between a Jasper Johns painting and a Claes Oldenburg piece.

Although most of Bender’s artworks may have had limited exposure, one painting in particular has been seen worldwide without credit to the artist. In the second season of “Lost,” a mural can be seen within the mysterious hatch. When the producers were deciding the design of the underground bunker and wanted a mural, Bender obligingly took on the task of making it. “I knew where the stories were going, and I knew of the mythology.... So I jumped in and painted.”

That’s when the Internet rumors began. Fans of the show began speculating about the meaning of the mural, the significance of the imagery and the placement of certain symbols.

TV Guide wrote an article about the similarities between the hatch painting and the paintings by one character’s old boyfriend, who was written in as an artist. It turns out that Bender was responsible for some of the paintings in the boyfriend’s studio as well.

Bender finds all the theories and dissection very amusing, but he remains coy about the meanings behind the paintings.

“The Hatch Painting” will be on display at the gallery. It’s a sure draw for “Lost” fans, but those interested in Bender’s frenetic paintings might be able to find their own connective thread among his works.

While Yarger is well aware that Bender’s successful shows and the current fascination with the “Hatch” painting may make for a compelling art show for some people, he feels that Bender’s artworks speak for themselves.

“We have primarily promoted this show as a collection of paintings by Jack Bender, who happens to have a huge career in television,” Yarger says. “A lot of painters struggle never having notoriety, trying to find an audience. It’s an interesting circumstance that we have a fellow who already has quite a reputation.”

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‘Jack Bender: Found’

Where: Timothy Yarger Fine Art, 329 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills

When: Private opening Saturday, open to public Sunday. Regular hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursdays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays.

Ends: Sept. 25

Info: (310) 278-4400, yargerfineart.com