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ABOUT :
Paul Benney is a multi-disciplined artist whose oeuvre moves beyond clear and definitive categorization although his work could be seen to continue the strong tradition of ‘British Mysticism’ championed by the likes of Samuel Palmer and William Blake. Benney is a polymath, the primary mode of expression being paint, which he handles with profound technical dexterity, but to add to this he is also a goldsmith (skills learned from his father, the celebrated goldsmith Gerald Benney), a sculptor, film maker, a musician and also a perfumer, all of which he is able to carry out with notable esoteric ability and accomplishment.
Paul Benney is a British artist born in London, England in 1959. He currently lives and works from studios in London and Suffolk. Benney rose to international prominence as a member of the Soho and East Village Neo-Expressionist group, whilst living and working in New York City in the 1980s where he worked and exhibited alongside peers Marylyn Minter, Jean-Michel Basquiat and David Wojnarovicz among the many other others who made up the exploding 80s NY art scene...
Paul Benney is a British artist born in London, England in 1959. He currently lives and works from studios in London and Suffolk. Benney rose to international prominence as a member of the Soho and East Village Neo-Expressionist group, whilst living and working in New York City in the 1980s where he worked and exhibited alongside peers Marylyn Minter, Jean-Michel Basquiat and David Wojnarovicz among the many other others who made up the exploding 80s NY art scene...
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Despite living and working in this extraordinary environment Benney’s painting maintained a uniquely English sensibility. His paintings are notably represented in a plethora of public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Brooklyn Museum, The National Gallery of Australia and The National Portrait Gallery in London, The Royal Collection and The Eli Broad Foundation. He has exhibited in eight BP Portrait Award Exhibitions and twice won the BP Visitors’ Choice Award. Benney's portrait subjects have included HM Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Mick Jagger, John Paul Getty III, 7th Marquess of Bath, The State Portrait for Israel, Lord Rothschild, as well as Ben Barnes for the portrait in the feature film ‘A Portrait of Dorian Grey’ in 2008. Benney was invited to be resident artist at Somerset House in 2010. During his five year residency he held the exhibition ‘Night Paintings’ in 2012 which explored themes that deal more with the subconscious and metaphysical world and drew over 15,000 visitors. In 2017 his epic painting and holosonic sound installation ‘Speaking in Tongues’ was a prominent feature of the Venice Biennale, located at Chiesa San Gallo, just off St Marks’s Square. The paintings from ‘Speaking In Tongues’ were subsequently purchased by a significant US art foundation based in California for permanent exhibition. Paintings are held in multiple collections worldwide.
EXHIBITIONS :
NEWS :
NEWS
Huge congratulations to Paul Benney who has been chosen by Her Majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla to paint the official Coronation state portrait of The Queen Consort for The Royal Collection.
Paul Benney’s Reliquary Series is included alongside major works by Anselm Kiefer, Rebecca Campbell, Claudia Casarino, Georg Baselitz and Mike Kelley in 'Monumental Matters : Experience and Introspection in Contemporary Art’ at BYU Museum of Art Utah, USA
Mabon’ is the first in an ongoing series of international mixed online exhibitions following this rhythm of the seasons, known as ‘the wheel of the year’. This ‘calendar’ provides a cue for the duration of each show, and inevitably flavours the selection of works presented…
Paul Benney is joined by long-time colleagues and kindred spirits Kiki Smith and Laurence Edwards in an exhibition spanning familiar and unconventional spaces across Snape Maltings as a key event in this years Aldeburgh Festival…
Paul Benney was commissioned to paint one of the seven portraits of the UK's last remaining Holocaust survivors to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day…
Anima Mundi Charity Print Donations to Funding Neuro in Memory of Little Daisy Brooks and Ethan Cass
The donation has been made in the loving and lasting memory of Daisy Brooks from Bures, Essex and Ethan Cass from Pendeen in Cornwall who tragically lost their lives to DIPG…
Anima Mundi’s major online international mixed exhibition featuring the work of 40 international artists, is now available to view on our website alongside the online catalogue, images, texts and video…
Offering a unique opportunity for a poetic space to meditate on key issues facing our species and through intricate interconnection our entire planet, at a pivotal turning point in human history.
Anima Mundi are delighted to launch ‘Beyond Ourselves’ a major mixed online exhibition featuring 39 international artists.
In this interview from the Colnaghi Foundation, Paul Benney talks to Dr Nicola Jennings, about his interest in light and levitation, and about the inspiration he finds in artists such as Goya, Caravaggio and Zurbarán.
'Ode to a Nightingale' is now open online. It was curated in response to the extraordinary crisis moment of lockdown that we find ourselves in and is our most international exhibition to date.
‘Iconic Works’ also includes works by contemporary artists Jeff Koons, Jenny Saville, Grayson Perry, Gerhard Richter, Cindy Sherman, Alexander Mihaylovich, Marc Quinn, Gavin Turk, Tracy Emin, Kiki Smith, Mat Colishaw, Joseph Kosuth, Yinka Shonibare, Glenn Brown, Marina Abramović, Jake & Dinos Chapman and Cornelia Parker
Anima Mundi is proud to present ‘Protected by Alarms’ which takes place in the empty and derelict, Vicarage Flats in St. Ives. The exhibition provides an eclectic response to the confused and challenging backdrop of this moment in time.
Benney appeared as one of the high profile signatories of a letter to the gallery director, written in disapproval of the oil companies continued association with the prize, due to their continued record as one of the world’s worst polluters and drivers of environmental destruction
Benney’s portrait of Fergus Henderson MBE has been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery for its permanent collection. The enigmatic pose of the subjects are in some ways reminiscent of a painted ‘Pietà.
On the first anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, Paul Benney reveals his painting made in response. “I tried to make something that reflects my feelings about this tragedy”
Paul Benney’s epic painting, ‘Speaking in Tongues’, together with an extraordinary holophonic sound installation, will be presented during the 2017 Venice Art Biennale.
Anima-Mundi curate ‘From Silence’ at Herrick Gallery, Mayfair