Nick Turbo Benson
July 9, 2025: Nick “Turbo” Benson is an Atlanta based illustrator, muralist, and fine artist who’s bold, retro-futuristic style draws from comic books, science fiction, and the visual language of vintage pulp covers. Benson’s murals appear throughout the city and beyond, including public works commissioned by MARTA, the NBA, Outerspace Project, Stacks Squares Mural Project and the Forward Warrior Mural Festival. He regularly exhibits with galleries like ABV and Cat Eye Creative. His commercial and public art clients include Pabst Blue Ribbon, Topo Chico, Run the Jewels, and the Atlanta Hawks.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Benson’s early influences included comic books, dinosaurs, and a fascination with both the natural and the bizarre. As a kid Nick sometimes found himself sketching in the margins of his notebook rather than paying attention in class. He transformed his artistic escapism into a career path when he studied illustration at Savanah College of Art and Design and received his BFA in Illustration in 2009. After graduation, Nick designed murals for Mellow Mushroom restaurants before transitioning into independent mural work. That early experience taught him how to approach walls as immersive design canvases rather than static surfaces.
“You’ve got to be a little dysfunctional to pursue a career in the arts.” Said the artist in a recent interview with Shoutout Atlanta. “I think the drive to create comes from a dissonance with reality and an urge to bend your surroundings into something you can understand. Painting a mural is like performing a magic trick. You’re transforming a public space by literally creating an illusion with just line and pigment.” His designs strike a balance between narrative storytelling and surreal abstraction. Examples of Benson’s mural subjects include birds such as the giant pileated woodpecker painted for Outerspace Project and fantastical creatures e.g. the samurai cat created at Stacks Squares.
Nick Benson’s illustration and storytelling form the creative core of his visual art process. Bright color palettes, layered shapes, and hand-rendered line work, construct scenes that suggest a narrative while leaving room for the viewer to form their own interpretation. Nick creates elaborate, imaginative worlds while still anchoring them in structured composition. Whether painting for a gallery show or a busy street corner, Benson’s work aims to transform everyday space into something animated and mythic.
Link to Nick Turbo Benson’s Website: https://nickturbobenson.com/
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