Andrews was one of America's leading contemporary artists and one of the most respected African American painters. His distinguished career spanned more than five decades. His work is included in the collections of many of the major museums in the country. In addition to his art, Benny Andrews had contributed articles to numerous arts magazines and has illustrated several books.

Andrews had developed an innovative and figurative style which blends the elements of painting with drawing and collage. His words conveyed the human experience in all its diversity.

Born in 1930 on a sharecropper's farm in Madison, Georgia, he attended Fort Valley State College in Georgia. Andrews served in the United States Air Force before earning a B.F.A. from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1958. Andrews lived in New York City for more than forty years until his passing in 2006.