9th Workshop with Eli Benveniste at Bornholm Art Museum
The theme this time is fearlessness - the natural fearlessness we have with us when we build something new into clay that has not yet become something specific and which we therefore cannot be sad to lose. It is a fearlessness that we may not even be aware of, of the kind that children have in full measure when drawing and modeling.
It is the fearlessness that I will cultivate at the workshop this year. Through exercises, I want to make you aware of this fine, ideal state, so that you can maintain this momentum as long as possible into the sculpture - hopefully to the last, where it is time to let go.
The declaration of intent that lies in our hands at this early stage brings a great freshness to the modeling, we get something out of hand in a hurry, which makes clothes look really good, but in fact many other materials as well.
But how can we maintain this courage?
In the beginning everyone is diligent and happy working towards the beautiful uncertainty in the distance, maybe we even look so far ahead that we do not even get to see what is actually good even before it is too late and the moment passed.
What happens to us at this "second stage" when the autopilot turns on us so easily? It smooths out all beautiful coincidences, corrects and replaces what's fresh and alive with explanations and postulates. Is it because we are pursuing our inner vision too likely, or is it because we do not see it clearly enough? Or is it our courage that fades along the way when the sculpture does not behave as we had hoped?
One thing is for certain, all our actions, such as hesitation, are immediately visible in the clay.
The authenticity, or authenticity that lies in the first intentions, is of great importance and we are able to keep the consciousness open further in the process is very much won. But it is certainly not easy when at the same time we strive to do our best and make the sculpture look something. That's what Michelangelo saw in his Pietá Rodanini, the beauty of the unfinished, before the mold closed for one solution. - His pieta is open - as life itself, the good, which the bad decisions he failed to erase. We can follow the many ways in which, as the old sculptor he had become, he recognizes that there is more than one truth.
That being said, it is neither child labor nor necessarily sketch I would urge you to aim for, your work may call for completion beyond the sketch stage, but some exercises in the beginning may exert this state of courage and overview from start to finish.
I look forward to seeing you.
Best Eli
The image of Diego Velasquez shows two horse heads ... an earlier choice may seem behind the final horse head. Her coat is painted by an assistant
Queen Elisabeth of France on Horseback. Ca. 1635. Oil on canvas.
“One is undoubtedly Velázquez, who painted the animal's head and chest, as well as his harness, clearly demonstrating his capacity to efficiently and naturally convey their appearance with a striking economy of means. Those skills are particularly clear when compared to the rendering of the queen's clothing. ”
Read more here: https: //www.museodelprado. text
Practical information:
We start teaching every day after lunch at. 12.30 and can continue until 16.45, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, where the museum closes at 12.00. 17.00. But you should be welcome to come earlier on the days the museum opens at. 10:00. As in the other years, I only teach after 4 p.m. 12:30, but will usually also be present in the morning hours.
The other guests of the museum are welcome during the opening hours to come down and watch the works of the workshop participants.
Sign up to: elibenveniste@gmail.com - Mobile: 3112 0180
Price: 3000 kr. - Clay will be available but is not included in the course price.
Deposit of 1000, - payable upon confirmation of registration to account number: Reg. 3121
Account number 4170 803620 or with Mobilepay on 31120180
Application for room at Svanekegården is possible as long as there are free spaces.
A workshop in Pietrasanta, the town of sculpture also known as Versilias piccolo Atene, so conveniently located between the Mediterranean Sea and The Alpine Alps.
From Monday 15th – Wednesday 24th October 2019.
If interested to learn about future workshops, please contact me on: elibenveniste@gmail.com.
Best wishes
Eli Benveniste
Photos from SKILLS 2018 workshop in Pietrasanta
The Workshop will give you the possibility to work in my studio in Viale Apua 13, which is located 10 min. walk from central Pietrasanta, but at the same time it will be an introduction to the many crafts, which the town is so known for, in this case especially the bronze foundries and the stone carving studios.
The Workshop is about skills and will deal with the technical and practical solutions of sculpture at a professional level. Therefore, I will suggest that the sculptures you make are thought of as models that later can be transferred into stone or bronze.
But how does a model really look, and when is a model suited to be transferred into bronze and how do you get monumentality in a sculpture that is meant to be cut into stone. – In the studio you can pursue an idea and maybe work on the same sculpture several times to clarify your idea.
You can work in clay, but you will also have the possibility to work in small blocks of plaster if you intend to transform your model into blocks of stone later on.
In the morning we model in the studio, while the afternoon will be used to visit the bronze foundries and marble workshops. We will follow the process where Benjo, Jørgens assistant, makes a silicone form - from beginning to end, as you will see the process of a sculpture from its state in wax until it is cast in bronze.
The workshop will also provide an insight into how a model can be enlarged in size in clay, as professional stone carvers will show you how to enlarge a sculpture from a model.
We also make a trip to Carraras marble quarry, where marble since Roman times has been taken from these mountains and carved into some of the world's finest masterpieces in one of the many workshops below.
Sculpture has for centuries been the foundation of the economy and fame of the area. Many international artists have made their way through Pietrasanta, which you will also see at Museo dei Bozzetti, Pietrasanta's sketch museum.
Practical information:
The workshop lasts for 9 days from Monday 15th - Wednesday 24th October. But if you want to stay longer it is of course also an opportunity, by then you will know the area and know your way around.
The course is intended for ceramists or sculptors who have previously worked with clay, or to artists in other media who are interested in sculpture.
In terms of housing there is the option to stay at CAV for 35€ a person if rooms are available at CAV we will also have the possibility to use their lecture room …. Valentina?
There is a kitchen in my studio where we can have lunch if you do not want to take a panino at one of the city's many good eateries.
Workshop at Bornholm 2018
The sculptor Eli Benveniste's workshop takes place at the Bornholm Art Museum, where she teaches modeling of massive sculptures. The workshop will deal with both design and especially technical solutions in modeling
Contact us to hear about upcoming workshops.
elibenveniste@gmail.com - Mobile: +45 3112 0180
8th Workshop with Eli Benveniste
Workshop 2018 - Expressions in clay
Bornholm Art Museum
from Saturday 7th to Sunday 15th April
When we model a body - whether it is a human body or an animal, we can choose to model by model or by our own conception.
We can aim for what we are doing to be as naturalistic as possible and go up in proportion and anatomy. It takes a long time to master, but is a compelling study in itself. But we can also choose to take it from a whole different angle and aim for what we are doing to have a certain expression.
It can be a condition or concept that is important to us that we can recognize in ourselves. These can be concepts such as love, inner calm, care and courage, joy, friendship and humor or on the dark scale: madness, jealousy, melancholy, ignorance, the institution's tight framework, despair and frustration or what about the allegories of the seven virtues in relation to the seven sins of death, or express the character of a human being.
But it can also be a completely abstract term, which is not based on an organic form, but rather an architectural construction or landscape - an object that works with its surrounding space, a sculpture expressing a metaphysical space, a meditative state in which movement and balance drives the work.
It may be expressive, as it may be a silent expression, but it is my command that it should give something away and not be "private" - that what we are doing should be recognizable in all of us. - It is as easy as it is difficult, but requires you to take the leap ...
How do we best use the clay to express a given condition? There are many ways to do it, but imitating is not one of them - it has to be. If the term seems sufficiently convincing, it is not the accuracy of an arm's exact length and width that matters any longer - it can simply be stated as a size. It is the intention that is read from the other's gaze and a compelling expression is a shortcut to understanding. For that, we need our intuition and imagination.
In the process, various exercises will occur that intend to open our eyes - because what are we actually seeing? Even though everyone looks with their experience, we can still try to get wider in the eyes and go into the fine details and expand our gaze here.
And to understand what parameters we use when assessing an object, we need to practice describing what we see with a critical and analytical look at different objects.
We have to work with different ways of modeling: getting the clay to be just clay - getting the clay to express different materialities and, as I said, getting the clay to express a state of mind.
It's a ball I throw in the air. But it is up to anyone to follow the course theme or not. If you are on the lookout for something interesting and just need technical guidance, this is the help you will get.
As before, technique and method are part of the course's focal point. I teach how to build a massive clay sculpture using both outer supports and an internal structure that is removed before burning. I will demonstrate how to hollow out the sculpture without disassembling it completely and how to make it function as a sculpture again if it is to be burned in several parts. Then how to reduce the collections so that they can only be seen when, after burning, they are glued together with stone glue.
Practical information:
We start teaching every day after lunch at. 12.30 and can continue until 16.45, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, where the museum closes at 12.00. 17.00. But you should be welcome to come earlier on the days the museum opens at. 10:00. As in the other years, I only teach after 4 p.m. 12:30, but will usually also be present in the morning hours.
The other guests of the museum are welcome during the opening hours to come down and see the workshop participants' work.
The course is intended for potters or sculptors who have previously worked with clay, or for artists who are interested in sculpture and who would like to get to know the clay's possibilities better.
Sign up to: elibenveniste@gmail.com - Mobile: 3112 0180
Price: 3000 kr. - Clay will be available but is not included in the course price.
Deposit of 1000, - payable upon confirmation of registration to account number: Reg. 3121 Account number 4170 803620 or with Mobilepay on 31120180
Application for room at Svanekegården is possible as long as there are free spaces.
Isms - Examples of different ways of expressing themselves.
Probably the themes that mankind has put words and pictures to over the years - for our understanding of ourselves in the world is our subject. But the way to express it changes from generation to generation and although it may seem to an artist that everything is done and said, our time has its rage too.
It is the feeling of making what is missing - what is not yet expressed in just that way - perhaps the only matter of different colored squares and streaks, or turning ladies in blue paint - using only junk or being as accurate as whatsoever possible or to make art for a god - whatever it may be, there are really no boundaries and anyone can do as they see fit. We invent ourselves.
Realism: Within the art of painting, two main meanings can be distinguished from the word. In one, it is a timeless general term for artistic reality portrayal without beautifying work, in the other the word covers a particular direction within 19th century European painting, realism. Unlike naturalism, which refers to the pursuit of objective representation of visual impressions, a realistic representation always contains a certain element of attitude-based interpretation and a striving to emphasize precisely those features that are considered to be particularly characteristic of true reality. It will often include unpleasant or unsightly features that testify to the shadow pages of existence, social disparities, bodily decay, etc. For example, such an element of timeless realism is included in the Baroque painter Caravaggio's biblical images, in which people with varicose veins appear on their legs, dirty feet with black nails, etc.
Dadaism It was characteristic of the Dadaists that they applied the principles of chance in the creation process.
Concretism: concrete art as an exact geometric design "produced solely by consciousness". Concrete art manifests itself in a constructive form-building of lines and colors without nature-inspired elements or other abstract impulses from outer reality.
Expressionism: Expressionist painters emphasized their current state of mind as illustrated by its imprint on the subject or subject of the image.
Common to expressionist artists was the desire to replace naturalism's objective retention of sensory impressions with the diametrically opposite: a subjective art of expression that was to reflect only the inner realities of the creative individual, including the transformations the sensory image of outer reality underwent as part of the artist's mental universe.
Surrealism: "Pure mental automatism, whereby one sets out to verbally, in writing, or in any other way to express the real function of thought, the dictation of thought, without any control on the part of reason and beyond any aesthetic or moral interest.
Spontaneousism: spontaneousism, art directions that use a spontaneous, expressive form of expression. abstract expressionism, action painting, informal art and tachism.
Symbolism: A symbolic work of art is not rationally communicative, but musically sugary, and the creation of such a work implies that conventional realism and logical reasoning communication are dimmed, emphasizing insanely complex expressiveness and abstract form beauty.
Cubism: The motif was dissolved into numerous small fragments showing parts of it viewed from different angles; it led to the innovation that the time dimension was introduced into the painting. The perspective space now appeared completely dissolved in a flat concrete image structure, whose moderate spatiality relied solely on the mutual overlap of the subject fragments and the contrasting effects of colors.
The allegories below are for inspiration - many artists have over time expressed these common cultural-historical narratives in different ways.
Allegory, depicting the human heart and the seven sins of death, represented with each animal: Toad = piety; snake = envy; lion = anger; snail = laziness; pig = the sow; goat = sensuality; peacock = arrogance.
Chastity - Castitas (purity) Includes moral behavior and attaining purity both physically and mentally. Relative to: Desire - Luxuria: Infertility is an outdated expression of sexual intercourse outside of marriage.
Endurance - Temperare (self control) One should be persistent and abstinent.
Divination - Gula: Means that you eat more than you need to survive.
Mercy - Liberalitas (willingness, generosity) Willing to give in to thought and action.
Prudence - Avaritia is the burden you suffer from when you are greedy and can't get enough.
Willingness to act - Industria (ethics, morals) Be alert, physically active, willing to work.
Laziness - Acedia: Laziness means not wanting to put in effort and work, but being tired and lazy.
Patience / Forgiveness - Patentia (peace) The ability to forgive and resolve conflicts peacefully.
Anger - Ira: Anger is an emotional state that can range from minor irritation to intense anger.
Benevolence - Humanitas (goodness): Pity and friendship and sympathy without prejudice.
Envy - Invidia: is a feeling, a desire to have another's characteristics, status, abilities, reputation or possessions.
Humility - Humilitas (modesty): Modest behavior, selflessness and being respectful. Give recognition to others instead of exalting themselves.
Pride Superbia: Pride involves an overly high self-esteem and a high self-esteem.
The boundary between the positively charged concept of high self-esteem and arrogance can seem fluid.
Tuesday 21 until Wednesday 29 March 2017
7th Workshop with Eli Benveniste at Bornholm Art Museum
Modeling of massive sculptures
What is better for the performer than being in the middle of a flow - the mental state of being completely gone and engrossed in modeling. The hand blindly follows the instinct and the sculpture develops in front of one's eyes. It is quite one's own world and at the same time a world we have in common with everyone else, where we speak the same language, but each with our own handwriting. This ideal state can be hard to come by - all kinds of obstacles can emerge - whether it be technical difficulties, an inflated ego or simply lack of continuity. Another obstacle may be the motive or the good idea that is evading - the wonderful idea that, like the choker in a car, can get us started.
Those who want to go up in size will have the necessary technical guidance, and it is entirely up to the individual to go after your own ideas, which I would like to support. But in the first days, I will give you a series of concrete exercises, provocative, that not only can get you moving, but also push you out of balance so that you get away from where each one is. Therefore, come in to model with blindfold, cut your shapes crosswise and then put them offset again.
You will be working on each other's works, to give meaning to what you have between your hands, and less space for the ego. You must improvise and model by model. The exercises are short and quick and are meant to train the ability to trust your intuition, after all, that is what makes the difference.
In the last years I have chosen to formulate a theme - which everyone is free to follow or not. This year's theme will question the significance of the motif to show that any motif can actually be used when we realize that it is the way we model it that is crucial. Therefore, we also do not have to wait for inspiration or a valid motive, but can take any and work with the language itself and find out how we can approach it.
It is the individual handwriting we need to look at and to make it all much easier I have chosen the subject in advance, which is a seated figure, a motif that has been used thousands of times.
It could be a Buddha - or a Virgin Mary, who, like the Egyptian Isis, sits with the Horus child on her lap. It could also be Bacon's screaming pope, a motif he painted after Diego Velazquez's Pope Innocente X of 1650. Djune Hanson's lifelike faithful human figures or a completely abstract Giacometti.
Below you can see a number of examples of sitting characters that may be your inspiration.
I look forward to seeing you all in March.
Best regards, Eli Benveniste
Practical information:
We start teaching every day after lunch at 12.30 and can continue until 16.45, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, where the museum closes at 12.00. 17.00. Monday to Wednesday we end at 15.45
You are welcome to work from 1 p.m. 10am all days.
As in the other years, I only teach after 4 p.m. 12:30, but will usually be present in the morning hours.
The other guests of the museum are welcome during the opening hours to come down and see the workshop participants' work!
The course is intended for potters or sculptors who have previously worked with clay, or for artists who are interested in sculpture and who would like to get to know the clay's possibilities better.
Registration to: elibenveniste@gmail.com - Tel. 3112 0180
Price: 3000 kr. - Clay will be available but is not included in the course price.
Deposit of 1000, - payable upon confirmation of registration to account number: Reg. 3121 Account Number 4170 803620
Application for room at Svanekegården is possible as long as there are free spaces.
1 - 9 March 2016
6th Workshop with Eli Benveniste at Bornholms Kunstmuseum
The good collaboration between Bornholm Art Museum and Eli Benveniste continues!
The annual intensive workshop is in early March from 1-9.
The course is intended for potters or sculptors who have previously worked with clay, or for artists who are interested in sculpture and who would like to get to know the clay's possibilities better.
As before, it is especially the technique and method the course is about. I teach modeling of massive sculptures and show how to build a massive clay sculpture using both outer supports and an inner structure that is then removed before burning. I will also demonstrate how to hollow out the sculpture without disassembling it completely, and how to make it work as a sculpture again if it is to be burned in several parts. I show how to reduce the collections so that they can only be seen when, after burning, they are glued together with stone glue.
In the first years the workshop was mostly about the technical treatment of the clay and the sculpture, but the last two years I have added some specific exercises, or a theme that each one can follow if they want - but it is entirely up to the individual to go for their own ideas that I would like to support.
Thus, the theme in 2014 was to model an abstract - and a figurative head - and to explore different modeling expressions and work with proportions. Last year we dealt with movement more specifically and examined what shape a size is.
This year, there will be different eras of time aside, one can start from a particular term and try to understand why a Baroque sculpture looked like it did, a Gothic, a Cubist, or if you want to explore how and why sculpture looks like it does today.
The other guests of the museum are welcome during the opening hours to come down and see the workshop participants' work!
Registration to: elibenveniste@gmail.com - Tel. 3112 0180 Price: 3000.Kr. - Clay not included in the course price. Deposit of 1000, - payable upon confirmation of registration to account number: Reg. 3121 Account Number 4170 803620
Application for room at Svanekegården is possible as long as there are free spaces.
Wednesday 11 March - Thursday 19 March 2015
5th Workshop with Eli Benveniste at Bornholm Art Museum
This year's workshop 2015 will deal with space and movement.
The course is intended for potters or sculptors who have previously worked with clay, or for artists who are interested in sculpture and who would like to get to know the clay's possibilities better.
The good collaboration with the Bornholm Art Museum continues, but this year will be further expanded as the art museum's current exhibition "In Greek" - Sculptors and antiquity from 1898-1962, gives us opportunities to look at different times of design and how space and movement have been used. through time. Attached is a more detailed description of the theme of the workshop.
The workshop is based on technical solutions, including how to build a massive clay sculpture, using both external supports of wooden sticks or similar. and an internal structure that can then be removed before burning. It will also be demonstrated how to erase a sculpture without separating it completely. Also, various surface techniques will be reviewed on how to make a sculpture function as a sculpture again if burned in several parts. Show how to reduce the collections so that they are only seen when glued together with stone glue. Following are various suggestions for finishing burnt sculptures without the use of glazes. Along the way, feed back can also be given on the individual participants' works
A good stoneware will be purchased from Cerama in advance so that each participant can have 100 kilos available on the first day of the course. The packages you do not use can be returned at the end of the course for the same price, which is Ceramas + shipping. You can also bring your own clay.
Registration to elibenveniste@gmail.com - Tel. 3112 0180 or to Bornholm Art Museum by mail: post@bornholms-kunstmuseum.dk Price: 3000.Kr. Clay not included in the course price. Deposit of 1000, - payable upon confirmation of registration to account number: Reg. 3121 Account Number 4170 803620
Application for room at Svanekegården is possible as long as there are free spaces.
25 February – 6 March 2014
4th Workshop with Eli Benveniste at Bornholm Art Museum
Modeling of massive sculptures
The sculptor Eli Benveniste comes to Bornholm and teaches modeling of massive sculptures.
The workshop will deal with both design and especially technical solutions in modeling: How to build a massive clay sculpture using both external supports and an internal structure that can then be removed before burning.
During the course, Eli Benveniste will talk about the structure of the clay and various surface treatments, talk about movement and spaciousness in the sculpture. She will discuss the clay's timing, how to work with the clay's own strength, relative to when it settles, talk about how the water in the clay diffuses and how best to regulate drying. Eli will tell and demonstrate how to hollow out a sculpture without disassembling it completely, show how to build, on large topics, an inner structure of clay inside the sculpture that strengthens it during drying and burning so it does not burn skew . Eventually it will be shown how to make a sculpture function as a sculpture again if it is burned in several parts. Show how to reduce the collections so that they can only be seen when glued together with stone glue. Following are various suggestions for finishing burnt sculptures without the use of glazes.
To register for Pernille Stougaard on mobile: 22 37 68 79 or email: nillestougaard@hotmail.com or to elibenveniste@gmail.com Price: 2800. Kr.
In Benveniste's sculptures, reliefs and drawings, the human body is the focal point. It is the interest in human history that is the starting point of the sculptor's work with the body. Strongly inspired by the history of art and how man is portrayed, Benveniste's sculptures are based on the idiom of antiquity, but, however, the classical sculpture adds new dimensions, by modeling time into the movement.
