In The Hall of the Muses | 2023
The works in Sara Benninga’s solo exhibition, In the Hall of the Muses, entwine drawing and painting, figures and patters, exposed canvas and opaque layers of colors in an encounter that shifts between disintegration and cohesion. Looking at Benninga’s paintings evokes a sense of mystery: The paintings draw the viewers straight to the artistic, material, and visual heart, while also demanding an engaged and active viewing. The pictorial world she unfolds is populated by figures in complex relationships and diverse situations – camaraderie, aggression, physicality, movement, sexuality, leisure, and voyeurism. Within and beyond the boundaries of each figure, there are overlapping parts of other figures, concealing and exposing one another. And so, the main conundrum in the painting is: Where should we look first? What precedes what? And what is more important? With that, the paintings challenge the sense of certainty we gain from direct observation, introducing questions about how we search and bestow meaning in the world of images around us.
Solo and Double Exhibitions:
Group Exhibitions:
2023
In the Hall of the Muses, Litvak Contemporary, Tel Aviv. Curator: Hadas Glazer (Sep. 7th to Nov. 24th).
2023
New Members, Jerusalem Artists’ House.
Curator: Meydad Eliyahu (Sep. 2nd to Nov. 4th).
2023
Double exhibition Close, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem.
Curator: Avital Wexler.
2022
Solo exhibition Looking Beyond, Tal Gallery, Kfar Vradim.
Curator: Ady Greenfeld.
2021
Solo exhibition Bacchanal, Maya Gallery, Tel Aviv.
2019
Artist Wall, Maya Gallery, Tel Aviv.
2017
2017: Double exhibition Trickle, The New Gallery Artists' Studios, Jerusalem.
Curator: Tamar Gispan-Greenberg.
2012
Graduation exhibition, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem.
Curators: Joseph Krispel and Yochai Avrahami.
2024
Par(i)ty With Us, AquabitArt Galerie, Berlin.
Curated by Sarah Maske, Nina Marlene Kraus, Irina Ilieva.
2024
“Splinter from the Storm”, Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem.
Curated by Noa Arad Yairi.
2023
The Road to the Pole, Litvak Contemporary, Tel Aviv.
Curator: Hadas Glazer.
2023
Us and Them, Wahat al Salam, Neve Shalom.
Curated by: Dyana Shaloufi Rizek.
2023
Fresh Paint, Tel Aviv.
Curated by: Raz Shapira and Yifat Gurion.
2022
Girotondo, Litvak Contemporary, Tel Aviv.
Curator: Hadas Glazer.
2021
Bloodline: The Artist’s Family, Litvak Contemporary, Tel Aviv.
Curator: Hadas Glazer.
2021
Draw me a Child, Illustration Week, Tel Aviv.
Curated by Tal Frenkel Alroy.
2020
Portrait, Salon Hacubia.
Curated by Ella Cohen Vansover and Dan Ormian.
2019
Present Occurrences: Winners of the Young Artists Scholarship, Jerusalem Print Workshop.
Curator: Irena Gordon.
2019
Civilized Jungle, Gallery of David Yellin Academic College of Education.
Curator: Nava T. Barazani.
2018
Life is Beautiful, Rosenbach Contemporary Art Gallery, Jerusalem.
2018
Pnina Yuchtman Prize, Rali Museum, Cesaerea.
Curator: Uri Rosenwein.
2018
Eclectics, Koresh 14, Jerusalem.
Curator: Vered Hadad.
2017
Man’s Man, Jerusalem Biennale.
Curators: Porat Salomon and Ronen Yizhaki.
2017
Salon, Hakubia, Jerusalem.
Curators: Dan Ormian and Ella Cohen Vansover.
2017
Artist’s Appointment, Manofim, Jerusalem Contemporary Art Festival.
Curator: Hadas Glazer.
2016
Hallway Conversations, The New Gallery, Jerusalem.
Curator: Tamar Gispan-Greenberg.
2016
Acquaintance: Chapter 1, The New Gallery, Jerusalem.
Curator: Tamar Gispan-Greenberg.
2016
Barbur 24 hour residency, Jerusalem.
2015
Singles, Koresh 14 Gallery, Jerusalem.
Curator: Vered Hadad.
2015
Salon, Hakubia, Jerusalem.
Curators: Dan Ormian and Ella Cohen Vansover.
2015
Demons and Ghosts, The New Gallery, Jerusalem.
Curator: Hedva Shemesh.
2014
Bread and Roses, Art sale exhibition, Tel Aviv.
2013
Intervals, Art sale exhibition, Tel Aviv.
Residencies
2018: Asylum Arts Retreat, Garrison, New York.
Prizes and Awards
2016: Young Artists Scholarship, The Jerusalem Print Workshop.