Artists

Born in Marseille in 1963, Thierry Benenati is a Sculptor of international fame.

Thierry, after studying Applied Arts, spent 20 years in Paris as creative and artistic director in advertising agencies. For over 10 years now, he has been devoted to sculpture, pure artistic expression of his true nature. He regularly participates in the Grand Palais, or at the Salon d’Automne where he was vice-president and president of the sculpture section.

Thierry is an incredible yet very humble artist, almost a philosopher in art. He does not consider himself a self-proclaimed super star artist, but one trained in tradition and respect for the classics, working hard and with discipline.

His sculptures exemplify an ancient tradition, yet incorporating a modern world.

Benenati’s show inside the Frilli Gallery are some of the most surprising exemplars of his own bestiary. He has a bubbling of imagination in the use of heterogeneous materials brightly harmonized, never blurring.

What Benenati tries to achieve is an harmonious blend of classic and modern, while striking a balance that is natural yet distinctly surreal. His creations, mostly with animals as subject matter, can be regarded as symbolist-surrealist in their expression while traces of the Baroque style, a hint at his Italian heritage. He attempts not only to show the beauty of physical form, but also to reveal a deeper sense of the subjects he sculpt. The result is an allegorical representation of the subjects' inner spirits, be they animal or otherwise, employing fundamental techniques of light, space and even time.