G A L L E R Y 1 1 3
B e y o n d t h e B o u n d a r i e s :
P a i n t i n g s b y P a m e l a B e n h a m
O c t o b e r 3 0 - N o v e m b e r 30 , 2 0 1 2
R e c e p t i o n: T h u r s d a y , N o v e m b e r 1 , 5 –8 p m
In this new body of work, Benham's expansive abstract images extend beyond the canvas edge and seem to be seen through smaller finite windows. These vibrant expressive paintings refuse to be contained. Brush strokes continue outward. They do not end. And her subtle light-filled washes blend out ad infinitum.
When asked why she is not choosing conventional compositional solutions, Benham explains she was influenced by the techniques of Chinese ink wash painting where the movement of the hand is to not hesitate at the paper’s edge but continue as though there is no end. Further, she states, she resonates with the East Asian principal that painting is an expressionistic art that is to capture the subject's soul and to express the elusive unseen.
And as we see in this exhibit, Pamela Benham demonstrates this again and again, her works leading us ultimately to the deeper content within.
Benham studied painting in New York City at the Art Students’ League under a full Ford Foundation Scholarship, and graduated from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. She then studied in Paris for two years at the Ecolé des Beaux-Arts with Pierre Carron. Other influential teachers were Robert Beverly Hale, Wolf Kahn, Dory Ashton, Paul Resika, Leland Bell and Stephen Posen.
Recipient of an Adolph Gottlieb Grant, Benham was also awarded artist-in-residencies at Skowhegan School in Maine, Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, Parson’s Altos de Chavon in the Dominican Republic, and Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.
She has exhibited internationally in museums and galleries including the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York City, the Musée d’Art Moderne and the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris. She has had over twenty solo exhibitions in galleries in New York including the Miller, Susan Schreiber and Jayne Baum Gallery.
Benham has now established her painting studio, Studio 93, here in Santa Barbara. Her work was recently seen in the SB Museum of Art Women’s Board’s Off the Wall event, and in her solo exhibition at the UCSB Faculty Club, where she also curated and participated in COLOR X 6, a group show of six abstract painters from Santa Barbara. Last month, Santa Barbara Beautiful featured her painting, Barely Tethered to the Earth/ Shifting into Light, for the cover of their program and for the publicity of their Annual Awards Presentation.
B e y o n d t h e B o u n d a r i e s :
P a i n t i n g s b y P a m e l a B e n h a m
O c t o b e r 3 0 - N o v e m b e r 30 , 2 0 1 2
R e c e p t i o n: T h u r s d a y , N o v e m b e r 1 , 5 –8 p m
In this new body of work, Benham's expansive abstract images extend beyond the canvas edge and seem to be seen through smaller finite windows. These vibrant expressive paintings refuse to be contained. Brush strokes continue outward. They do not end. And her subtle light-filled washes blend out ad infinitum.
When asked why she is not choosing conventional compositional solutions, Benham explains she was influenced by the techniques of Chinese ink wash painting where the movement of the hand is to not hesitate at the paper’s edge but continue as though there is no end. Further, she states, she resonates with the East Asian principal that painting is an expressionistic art that is to capture the subject's soul and to express the elusive unseen.
And as we see in this exhibit, Pamela Benham demonstrates this again and again, her works leading us ultimately to the deeper content within.
Benham studied painting in New York City at the Art Students’ League under a full Ford Foundation Scholarship, and graduated from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. She then studied in Paris for two years at the Ecolé des Beaux-Arts with Pierre Carron. Other influential teachers were Robert Beverly Hale, Wolf Kahn, Dory Ashton, Paul Resika, Leland Bell and Stephen Posen.
Recipient of an Adolph Gottlieb Grant, Benham was also awarded artist-in-residencies at Skowhegan School in Maine, Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, Parson’s Altos de Chavon in the Dominican Republic, and Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.
She has exhibited internationally in museums and galleries including the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York City, the Musée d’Art Moderne and the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris. She has had over twenty solo exhibitions in galleries in New York including the Miller, Susan Schreiber and Jayne Baum Gallery.
Benham has now established her painting studio, Studio 93, here in Santa Barbara. Her work was recently seen in the SB Museum of Art Women’s Board’s Off the Wall event, and in her solo exhibition at the UCSB Faculty Club, where she also curated and participated in COLOR X 6, a group show of six abstract painters from Santa Barbara. Last month, Santa Barbara Beautiful featured her painting, Barely Tethered to the Earth/ Shifting into Light, for the cover of their program and for the publicity of their Annual Awards Presentation.