| What is it that we see? In the past, Jason Benjamin's paintings - of fruit or flowers or landscape - have been so intricately tied to emotion that they were really depictions of his mind. However, increasingly aware of the presence of the land itself ghosting his efforts, Benjamin has embarked upon investigations of a different kind. Once freed of imposed narrative, he has found the land reveals its inherent meaning. This of necessity is a slow form of discovery, perhaps based on a quiet receptivity grown from the artist's abiding interest in Eastern philosophy, and his personal odyssey for truth. Certainly the careful observation and detailed painterly rendering of this work is a process that celebrates the land's as-it-is-ness, and awakens for us new ways to engage with its beauty. |
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| Melbourne-born Benjamin, whose first exhibition was in New York in 1989, now regularly intersects his Sydney-based life with visits to Japan. His work has met wide critical acclaim, and is represented in numerous public and private collections within Australia, including the National Gallery of Australia and the Australian National Portrait Gallery, Artbank, and many regional galleries. Benjamin has won numerous prizes including the Kings School and Mosman Art Prizes, and has recently been a finalist in the prestigious Archibald and Moran Prizes. He exhibits extensively throughout Australia, and in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York. |
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