Amel Bennys
Biography
Born in 1970 in Tunis, Tunisia
Lives and works between Tunis and Paris.
Bennys, an abstract painter and sculptor, uses colour as equally a structure as a three-dimensional object in space. Layered textures and pigments define much of her work. This exploration of texture and material gives way to the visual knowledge of form through coloration. For the artist, colour becomes a point of departure in exploring the depths of architectural form. In her paintings one can note the manner in which colour acts as a constructive tool: the purity of pigment stands flat on the canvas and thus become a structure in and of itself. Bennysʼpaintings are lyrical and exist as a natural and fluid extension of sculptural figuration. Bennysʼpractice exists within the realm of incessant layering of flat pigments, the “tableau” becomes the art object as a three-dimensional structure.
Amel Bennys has a MFA fromEcole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. She has received numerous awards including: Villa Medicis "Hors les Murs", "Les Etoiles de la Peinture"prize, which resulted in an exhibition at the Maeght Galleries, Montrouge and Barcelone. In 2012, she has been invited by the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation (Bethany, CT). Her work has been reviewed in Le Monde Diplomatique, Gazette Drouot Auction, French television: FR3 & ARTE. Her work is in prestigious collections including: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, U.S.A ; Agnès B., private collection ; Alain Bonfand, private collection ; Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia ; Ministry of Culture collection, Tunis, Tunisia; Pascal Quignard collection, Paris, France; Frédéric Mitterand (former Minister of Culture) collection, Paris, France; Foreign Ministry of France collection, Paris, France; Intervest Development Corp collection, New York, U.S.A.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2018: Only for your eyes, Silas Von Morisse Gallery, New York, USA
2016: No standing any Lime, Selma Feriani Gallery, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
2014: VOLTA, New York Art Fair, New York, USA
Selma Feriani Gallery, London, UK
2013: TGM. Selma Feriani Gallery, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
2012: Get up, Stand up Selma Feriani Gallery, London, UK
2011: End of Party, Regard Sud Gallery, Lyon, France
2009: Ammar Farhat Gallery, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
2008: Sculpture Design, Balavoine Cultural Center, Arques, France
2006: Balavoine Cultural Center, Arques, France
2005: Sculptures, Agart Gallery, Amilly, France
2002: Gorgi Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia 1997 Gorgi Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022: Le cheveu de Mu'awiya (Nadine Atallah), Fondation 32bis, Tunis
2021: La Ruche Foundation, Paris
2020: Untitled, Selma Feriani Gallery, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
2019: Mediums of exchange, Lehman College Museum - New York, USA
2015: Dubai Art Fair, Selma Feriani Gallery, UAE
2013: 1: 54 Art Fair, Selma Feriani Gallery, London, UK
2011: 10 Years, Agart Gallery, Amilly Art Centre, France
2007: Frederic Moisan Gallery, Paris, France
2006: The Environmentals, Jouy-en-Josas, France
2004: The Gardens of Dar El Kamila, French Institute for Cooperation, La Marsa, Tunisia 1999 Abstract Art-African Art, Skoto Gallery, New York, United States
Gouaches, St John's University, New York, USA
1996: Black is a color, Galerie Maeght, Barcelona, Spain
1993: Alain Veinstein Gallery, Paris, France
1992: France T Gallery, Paris, France
1990: The Stars of Painting, Galerie MaeghtMontrouge, Paris, France
Selected Collections
• Private collection Agnès B.,
• Private collection Alain Bonfand,
• Pascal Quignard Collection, Paris, France
• Art Museum of Cleveland, Ohio, USA
• Collection of the Ministry of Culture, Tunis, Tunisia
• Collection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France Collection Intervest Development Corp, New York, United States The Kamel Lazaar • Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia
Selected of Residences and Prizes
2019: Pollock-Krasner Foundation Prize, New York, USA
2012: Residence at the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, Connecticut, USA
2016: Villa Medici outside the walls
2005: Aid for creation, DRAC, lie de France
2000: Aid for creation, DRAC, lie de France
Selected Books and Publications
• Mediums of exchange, 2019, Lehman College Museum, Bronx, New York
• Art press, 2019, HuffPost, United States
• Seeing There AmelBennys, works 1987-2013, Selma Feriani editions
• Interviews, ARTE news and France 3 program by Pascal Sanchez
• Crossed Horizons, Assilah Forum Foundation, Morocco
• Le Monde Diplomatique, February 2011, Paris, France
• Film: "Women painters" Hamida Ben Ammar, 2004, Production Cinétélé Film
• The Gardens of Dar El Kamila, 2004, French Institute for Cooperation, Tunisia
• Hidden forms, sanctified forms, French Institute of Cooperation, Tunisia
• Gazette of Drouot, Paris
• Contemporary Arab artists, Institute of the Arab World, Paris, France
• Black is a Color, Éditions Maeght, Paris, France
Jury Member
2022: Jury, mentor African Culture Fund/32bis Academy for North African Artists
2020: Member of the jury, EPI 2020 - Emerging Painting Invitational Prize, Harare, Zimbabwe.
1991: Member of the jury, “The stars of painting”, Paris, France
Born in 1970 in Tunis, Tunisia
Lives and works between Tunis and Paris.
Bennys, an abstract painter and sculptor, uses colour as equally a structure as a three-dimensional object in space. Layered textures and pigments define much of her work. This exploration of texture and material gives way to the visual knowledge of form through coloration. For the artist, colour becomes a point of departure in exploring the depths of architectural form. In her paintings one can note the manner in which colour acts as a constructive tool: the purity of pigment stands flat on the canvas and thus become a structure in and of itself. Bennysʼpaintings are lyrical and exist as a natural and fluid extension of sculptural figuration. Bennysʼpractice exists within the realm of incessant layering of flat pigments, the “tableau” becomes the art object as a three-dimensional structure.
Amel Bennys has a MFA fromEcole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. She has received numerous awards including: Villa Medicis "Hors les Murs", "Les Etoiles de la Peinture"prize, which resulted in an exhibition at the Maeght Galleries, Montrouge and Barcelone. In 2012, she has been invited by the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation (Bethany, CT). Her work has been reviewed in Le Monde Diplomatique, Gazette Drouot Auction, French television: FR3 & ARTE. Her work is in prestigious collections including: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, U.S.A ; Agnès B., private collection ; Alain Bonfand, private collection ; Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia ; Ministry of Culture collection, Tunis, Tunisia; Pascal Quignard collection, Paris, France; Frédéric Mitterand (former Minister of Culture) collection, Paris, France; Foreign Ministry of France collection, Paris, France; Intervest Development Corp collection, New York, U.S.A.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2018: Only for your eyes, Silas Von Morisse Gallery, New York, USA
2016: No standing any Lime, Selma Feriani Gallery, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
2014: VOLTA, New York Art Fair, New York, USA
Selma Feriani Gallery, London, UK
2013: TGM. Selma Feriani Gallery, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
2012: Get up, Stand up Selma Feriani Gallery, London, UK
2011: End of Party, Regard Sud Gallery, Lyon, France
2009: Ammar Farhat Gallery, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
2008: Sculpture Design, Balavoine Cultural Center, Arques, France
2006: Balavoine Cultural Center, Arques, France
2005: Sculptures, Agart Gallery, Amilly, France
2002: Gorgi Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia 1997 Gorgi Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022: Le cheveu de Mu'awiya (Nadine Atallah), Fondation 32bis, Tunis
2021: La Ruche Foundation, Paris
2020: Untitled, Selma Feriani Gallery, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
2019: Mediums of exchange, Lehman College Museum - New York, USA
2015: Dubai Art Fair, Selma Feriani Gallery, UAE
2013: 1: 54 Art Fair, Selma Feriani Gallery, London, UK
2011: 10 Years, Agart Gallery, Amilly Art Centre, France
2007: Frederic Moisan Gallery, Paris, France
2006: The Environmentals, Jouy-en-Josas, France
2004: The Gardens of Dar El Kamila, French Institute for Cooperation, La Marsa, Tunisia 1999 Abstract Art-African Art, Skoto Gallery, New York, United States
Gouaches, St John's University, New York, USA
1996: Black is a color, Galerie Maeght, Barcelona, Spain
1993: Alain Veinstein Gallery, Paris, France
1992: France T Gallery, Paris, France
1990: The Stars of Painting, Galerie MaeghtMontrouge, Paris, France
Selected Collections
• Private collection Agnès B.,
• Private collection Alain Bonfand,
• Pascal Quignard Collection, Paris, France
• Art Museum of Cleveland, Ohio, USA
• Collection of the Ministry of Culture, Tunis, Tunisia
• Collection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France Collection Intervest Development Corp, New York, United States The Kamel Lazaar • Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia
Selected of Residences and Prizes
2019: Pollock-Krasner Foundation Prize, New York, USA
2012: Residence at the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, Connecticut, USA
2016: Villa Medici outside the walls
2005: Aid for creation, DRAC, lie de France
2000: Aid for creation, DRAC, lie de France
Selected Books and Publications
• Mediums of exchange, 2019, Lehman College Museum, Bronx, New York
• Art press, 2019, HuffPost, United States
• Seeing There AmelBennys, works 1987-2013, Selma Feriani editions
• Interviews, ARTE news and France 3 program by Pascal Sanchez
• Crossed Horizons, Assilah Forum Foundation, Morocco
• Le Monde Diplomatique, February 2011, Paris, France
• Film: "Women painters" Hamida Ben Ammar, 2004, Production Cinétélé Film
• The Gardens of Dar El Kamila, 2004, French Institute for Cooperation, Tunisia
• Hidden forms, sanctified forms, French Institute of Cooperation, Tunisia
• Gazette of Drouot, Paris
• Contemporary Arab artists, Institute of the Arab World, Paris, France
• Black is a Color, Éditions Maeght, Paris, France
Jury Member
2022: Jury, mentor African Culture Fund/32bis Academy for North African Artists
2020: Member of the jury, EPI 2020 - Emerging Painting Invitational Prize, Harare, Zimbabwe.
1991: Member of the jury, “The stars of painting”, Paris, France
