Siona Benjamin at Denver's Mizel Museum on May 17, 18 & 20

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Image courtesy of press release

COLORADO - Siona Benjamin, a Jewish painter originally from India now living in New Jersey, comes to Denver’s Mizel Museum for a three-day residency from May 17-19, each day highlighting a particular facet of this multi-dimensional artist. Benjamin begins the residency as the guest speaker at one of the museum’s popular Salon Nights on Thursday, May 17, 5:30 p.m. Siona Benjamin’s work reflects her background being raised Jewish in Hindu and Muslim cultures in India. Her paintings combine the imagery of her past with the role she plays in America today, creating mosaics inspired by both Indian miniature paintings and Sephardic icons. For more information, visit http://www.mizelmuseum.org or call 303-394-9993.

The Dura Europos Project: An Ancient Site Interpreted Through 21st Century Eyes

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS



NEW YORK - United Jewish Appeal | Federation of New York hosts the "The Dura Europos Project: An Ancient Site Interpreted Through 21st Century Eyes." The Dura Europos murals were created by an ancient community of Jews living in Syria, and were destroyed by the Persians in 256 C.E.. The murals today, which are on display in Syria, inspired an exhibition conceived by the Jewish Art Salon. The exhibition of 25 artists presents 21st century interpretations based on the subjects and concepts found in the ancient murals. [link]

Siona Benjamin Exhibits at Princeton Through Dec. 31

CENTRAL JERSEY.COM
By Michele Alperin

Siona Benjamin: Finding Home No. 75 (Fereshteh) “Lilith.”
30 in. x 26 in. (painting size) gouache and gold leaf on wood panel, 2005.

NEW JERSEY - Montclair artist Siona Benjamin’s intricate, brightly colored gouache and gold leaf paintings are powered by symbolism and metaphor that grows out of her own multicultural experience. “I have evolved and become a more transcultural artist who doesn’t belong anywhere but belongs everywhere,” says Ms. Benjamin. “At first I was searching for home, but now I don’t think there is one home, at least for me. Home is wherever I pitch my tent.” Ms. Benjamin is exhibiting old and new paintings at the Bernstein Gallery in Robertson Hall at the Woodrow Wilson School in a show titled “Ishq: Paintings by Siona Benjamin” that runs through Dec. 21. Ms. Benjamin calls her work “visual midrash,” which ties it to a form of biblical interpretation she studies with Professor Burt Visotzky at the Jewish Theological Seminary. [link]

Connecticut Gallery to Host Perspectives from Asian Women Artists

STAMFORD PLUS
By Sacred Heart University

Finding Home #93 "Mahalat" (Fereshteh) Siona Benjamin, 2006 Gouache and 22K gold leaf on paper 22" x 22"

CONNECTICUT - Sacred Heart University’s Gallery of Contemporary Art will kick off its 2011-2012 season with the exhibit, Fluidity, Layering, Veiling: Perspectives from South Asian and Middle Eastern Women Artists, at an opening reception on Sunday, September 18 from 1pm – 3:30pm.  This exhibit will be on display from September 18 – October 27. Curated by Deborah Frizzell, Ph.D., the five artists included are Samira Abbassy, Jaishri Abichandani, Siona Benjamin, Afarin Rahmanifar and Naomi Safran-Hon. The artists are from South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States and they reinvest aesthetic languages with a new purpose, presenting a sense of both narrative and abstraction, of shifting notions of “community” as a subject. [link]

Siona Benjamin's Interviews on Canvas Faces of the Bene Israel

ASIAN JEWISH LIFE
By Erica Lyons

Sharon Galsurkar at Magen David Synagogue

INDIA - The story of the Jews in India goes back 2,000 years and is one of peaceful coexistence in a colorful world that embraced them yet one of isolation from global Jewry. When artist Siona Benjamin, an American, set out on her trip back to the India of her childhood in 2010, she arrived with an intense sense of purposefulness heavily laden with nostalgia. She was intent on rescuing the stories and narratives of these people, her people, the Jews of India. Benjamin was awarded the Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship 2010-11, which enabled her to embark on this four month intensive research study in India that allowed her to photograph, interview, and record the Bene Israel's stories lest they fall into oblivion. [link]

Siona Benjamin's Hindu Portraits Show the Varied Faces of Jews

MONTCLAIR TIMES
By Elizabeth Oguss

NEW JERSEY - In an empty synagogue in Pune, India, an old man prays alone, his still-strong voice rising to the rafters as he chants the Hebrew prayers. The moment is captured in still photos and on video by an American artist, Siona Benjamin. "His voice in the empty synagogue was a symbol," Benjamin said, recalling the moment in the basement studio of her Montclair home. "Once there were 30,000 Jews in India. Now there are around 4,000. When he sang alone, his voice echoed."Her aim is to explore the many faces of Indian Jews in order to "reconfirm" something she has always known: "There is no such thing as a Jewish race." As a Bene Israel Jew raised in a Hindu and Muslim society and educated in Christian and Zoroastrian schools, Benjamin knows firsthand what it is to feel "other." PHOTO: Benjamin with cantor in Mumbai. [link]

Art Review: "Lilith" by Siona Benjamin | NYC

JEWISH PRESS
By Richard McBeeNEW YORK - Siona Benjamin's exhibition Finding Home: The Art of Siona Benjamin is simply beautiful. Set in the spacious lobby gallery of the JCC Manhattan, it allows for a peaceful contemplation of this complex artist's meditations on biblical women, war, exoticism and contemporary society. The painted walls range from soft ochre to a pale turquoise, setting off Benjamin's palette to maximum effect, each work sensuously vibrating with the atmosphere of Benjamin's native Mumbai, India. (Above) "Finding Home #102 'Lilith' (Fereshteh)" 2008. The exhibit will run through July 30. [link]

NYC's Jewish Art Salon Panel Discussion: Diversity in Jewish Art

AOA NEWS

"Finding Home#89 Vashti (Fereshteh)" by Sonja Benjamin

NEW YORK - On Monday, June 27 at 7pm, The Jewish Art Salon hosts an evening discussion entitled "Jewish Diversity in Art" centering around the works of artist Sonja Benjamin. Benjamin's work is currently on exhibit at The Laurie M. Tisch Gallery at the Jewish Community Center. The event is free. Benjamin's work presents the multi-dimensional identities of Jewish people and she will be part of the panel discussion. Other panel members will include Matthew Baigell, Professor Emeritus of Art History at Rutgers, and author and editor of over 20 books on American and Russian art; and filmmaker Lacey Schwartz. The panel will be moderated by Yona Verwer, president of the Jewish Art Salon. [link]

The Blue, Indian Jews on View in Manhattan

AOA News

"Beloved" (Sarah and Hagar) By Sonia Benjamin

NEW YORK - In the vibrant world created by Indian-Jewish artist Siona Benjamin (born in Bombay, now living in New Jersey), Biblical characters come in the form of blue angels who face problems and dilemmas of the contemporary world. [link]