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Shop Available Works by Sandra Benhaim

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Artist Statement

I’m a visual artist who is fascinated with color, inviting viewers, via my paintings, to places they haven’t been.

My paintings and collages are an expression of my passion for nature: I’m striving to use an abstract visual language to express, in unabashed and exuberant color, a kind of emotional interpretation of nature. The artwork’s image materializes through several paint and / or collage layers (sometimes numerous) and develops from an abundance of intuitive and improvisational activity and mark-making. Often, I will incorporate collage elements into my artwork along with expressively painted areas.

My abstract paintings, collages, and works on paper many times take inspiration from landscape and my surroundings, from my hometown Philadelphia area to farther places like Arizona and New Mexico, and even foreign destinations where I’ve traveled - like Paris and The Bahamas. These images express in exciting and spirited color my enthusiasm for, and translation of, the natural world.

In my abstract artworks, color is an important element, and I oftentimes employ luscious, vibrant, and intense hues. Frequently, as I’m working with color, unusual spatial relationships and somewhat unconventional compositions manifest themselves, and this appeals to my visual sensibility.

My paintings and collages result from a rather intuitive process, and they are built up layer upon layer, with varied colors, expressive strokes of paint, and often textured materials, until the image emerges triumphant. I aim to create artwork that captures and attracts the viewer’s interest by way of color and composition, and then results in a joyful encounter.

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Artist Biography

Sandra Benhaim is a painter working in oil, mixed media, and collages on canvas, wood panels, and paper. She holds a BFA (merit scholarship) and an M.Ed from Temple University's Tyler School of Art. She taught art for nearly 20 years in Philadelphia's public schools.

After working more representationally, she now creates mainly abstract images in expressive, exuberant color. Throughout the past four decades, she’s explored her creative side: Sandra has had 12 solo shows and been in over 130 juried group shows from Washington state to New York to Florida.

Sandra’s artworks are in corporate collections such as PNC Headquarters Tower, Pittsburgh, PA; The Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Servier Laboratories, Boston, MA; Mondrian Investments, Philadelphia, PA office, among others.

Recent commissions include two 48"H x 60"W paintings for Boston’s Servier Laboratories, and a 96"H x 78"W painting for Philadelphia's Del Frisco's Grille.

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Education

1997
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Studio for Advanced Studies Program

1973
Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Elkins Park, PA
M. Ed.

1968
Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Elkins Park, PA
BFA

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Awards + Honors

Honorable Mention, 146th Annual Small Oils Show, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

Third Prize, Small Worlds, The Plastic Club, Philadelphia, PA

Merit Award, Art Of The Flower, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

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Bibliography

2014
Wong, Wilson, “A.I.R. At New Century Gallery,” Gallery & Studio, Vol 16 No. 5, p.15

2011
“ABstract EXpressions Contemporary Art Gallery (Mt. Holly, NJ),” An Art Museum A Week

2008
Donohoe, Victoria, “ARTsisters member’ show at Tyme,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 20, 2008

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Collection

Large-scale (96" x 78") painting commissioned by Del Frisco's Grille, Philadelphia, PA

AtlantiCare Foundation

Three Paintings selected for permanent installation at the PNC Tower in Pittsburgh, PA

Collection of Mondrian Investment Partners Limited, London and Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

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Professional Experience

1968 – 1986
Art Specialist Teacher, School District of Philadelphia

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Workshops and Post-Baccalaureate

2012 - Present
Periodic Workshops & Critiques with Moe Brooker, Christine Lafuente, Stuart Shils & Ken Kewley

Exhibitions

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Solo

2023
Neumann University, Aston, PA

2022
Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2021
Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2019
Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2018
Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2017
Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2016
Abstract Paintings, InLiquid at the Courtyard by Marriott, Philadelphia, PA

2013
Mixed Media Paintings, Christine Fréchard Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA

2010
Calming Colors, Commerce 1 & 2, Philadelphia, PA

2008
Mixed Media Paintings, Balance Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

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Two-Person

2019
Benhaim and Brunner, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Invitational Exhibition

2010
Spring Painting Show, Abstract Expressions Contemporary Art Gallery, Mt. Holly, NJ
Invitational Exhibition

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Group

2025
Laudato Si Caring for Our Common Home, Maguire Art Museum at St Joseph’s, Merion Station, PA

2024
InLiquid Toasts 25, Off the Wall Gallery at Dirty Franks, Philadelphia, PA

‍Dispatches from Kindred Worlds, The 2024 Summer Member Invitational, Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA

Small Works, Squared, Old City Jewish Art Center, Philadelphia, PA

The Art of Nature and The Nature of Art, Delaware Museum of Science and Nature, Wilmington, DE

‍Everyday Futures Fest, Silent Auction and Exhibition, Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA‍

Beauty Endures, McNichol Art Gallery, Neumann University, Aston, PA

‍InLiquid Benefit and Silent Auction, Ice Box Project Space, Philadelphia, PA

2019
Artists' Equity 70th Anniversary Members' Juried Exhibition, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA
Juried Exhibition

Visual Democracy, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

2018
Color Explosion, Salus University, Elkins Park, PA
Juried Exhibition
Curator: Elynne Rosenfeld

Transforming Jazz, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Juror: Leroy Johnson

2016
Square Foot Art Basel Miami Four, Aqua Art Miami, Aqua Hotel, Miami Beach, FL

Painting Exhibition, Theatre Horizon, Norristown, PA
Invitational Exhibition

In-VISIBLE, Point Park University Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Juror: John Carson

2015
3rd Annual Juried Exhibition, Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Juror: Elizabeth Osborne

2013
HOME: GoggleWorks 2013 Juried Exhibition, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA
Juror: Genevieve Coutroubis

2010
Diverse Horizons/em>, Widener University, Chester, PA
Curator: Valetta

2009
Three-Person Fall Exhibition, The Gallery of Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, Wynnewood, PA
Invitational Exhibition

Inliquid’s 10th Anniversary @ URBN, The Gallery at 543, Philadelphia, PA

*List of exhibitions prior to 2009 can be viewed on www.sandrabenhaim.com