For this artist, New York City is the only canvas big enough.
When Benny Cruz picked up a paintbrush for the first time, he had no idea that his art would catapult him to the highest heights of social media.
“I always wanted to be a painter, until I reached a point where I wasn’t going anywhere with my art,” the Sweden-born artist, 49, told The Post.
“That was tough. Then and there, I started painting for myself.”
Cruz, also known as “Your Local Benny” on his social media, discovered only later in life that his work spoke to millions — many of them New Yorkers.
“I saw that a lot of people who followed me were from New York, and they started buying my art,” he said of his popular subway collection, pieces that sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars.
“So to think I felt I was going nowhere with my work, to now is a big difference. I started to get more and more relevant. I felt total darkness before, and New Yorkers brought the light.”
The Brooklyn artist, who divides his time between New York and Sweden, where his family resides, experienced a boon to his career after picking up MTA subway maps and experimenting with text work over them.
Cruz, who uses acrylics and markers on sustainable paper, has gained notice for his Manhattan street art in recent months.
The pieces, spotted on subway cars across the Big Apple, soon reached every corner of social media, with many gathering thousands of likes, as well as New Yorkers liking, sharing and posting his work.
‘I felt total darkness before, and New Yorkers brought the light.’
“With New York, I feel an enormous sense of gratitude,” he said. “I wanted to express my emotions, so I thought about the most symbolic aspect of the city: the subway. The subway connects every part of New York. From there, I found the map and started to make my art.”
The prolific pieces soon racked up thousands of impressions on social media, making Cruz synonymous with subway-inspired artwork now woven into the city’s fabric.
“These went completely viral because a lot of people, even people that live in New York, embraced it. And that’s a huge scale of people. It’s powerful, and there is emotion behind it. And I think that’s the reason people resonate with my art,” added Cruz, who boasts 40,000 Instagram followers.
Cruz, who was once an apprentice under the late Chilean artist Alfredo Mosella, said he’s finally found an artistic purpose.
“With text, I found home. It’s the most simple but most complex way to express my emotions,” he said.
‘I wasn’t going to have a future with my art, but New York changed everything.’
After obtaining a permit to write on a “perfect” blank canvas — in the form of a truck parked on 14th Street — Cruz crafted a message to New Yorkers who pass the stationed vehicle on their daily commutes.
“I’m aiming so high I keep forgetting I’m already living my dream,” reads text emblazoned on the truck, an Instagrammable backdrop for passersby.
It is one of Cruz’s most recognizable artworks, calling it his proud “donation to the people of New York.”
When asked about his favorite piece, he couldn’t choose one.
“I have several, but the first one for me is the one that went completely viral online. It says, ‘New York, I have so much to thank you for.’ I mean, that really went viral,” he said.
“This other one I love says, ‘She’s got a soft heart but is New York tough.’ And that one was successful because much of my audience is female.
“New York is a place you feel connected, and art connects people,” he added. “I’m getting more involved with the city, and a lot of people know me now. Either they know me or my art.”
Asked what he hopes his art will achieve, Cruz admits that legacy was never the goal for him.
“To be honest, I haven’t thought about that. This started out because I wanted to express how I feel, and that’s the core of my history. I still make art that is emotional and true to my expression.
“The only thing is, my relationship with New York has changed, but in a good way.”
Still, Cruz revealed plans to host a large-scale art show in the Big Apple as soon as 2026 as his social media presence evolves.
“I wasn’t going to have a future with my art, but New York changed everything,” he said.
“And it’s like my artwork says, ‘I’m aiming so high I keep forgetting I’m already living my dream.’ ”
