Biography
Shannon Benine
born 1978 / Tacoma, Washington
lives and works in Chicago, IL
Shannon Benine is an internationally exhibited, interdisciplinary artist. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her BFA from the University of Washington in Seattle. Her work has been widely exhibited and is included in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and the National Centre of Contemporary Art in Moscow, Russia. She has received grants from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Midwest Society for Photographic Education and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Benine currently teaches in the Department of Photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Statement
I have a simultaneous respect for the past and the present and wish to create work that produces a concern for our future. Beginning with a subject that addresses a current issue relevant to my family, I seek to create works that initiate conversations rather than inflict points of view. I aim to circumvent the impulse of the viewer to avoid disturbing implications and lure them into facing what they would otherwise ignore. Focusing on the effect of the war and the energy crisis on the domestic lives of Americans, I strive to engage the viewer in the discussion and debate that surrounds these important issues.
News & Awards
Read the review of Means Without End on Art Talk Chicago.
My portfolio is included in the Midwest Photographers Project (MPP) at the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP).
The Chicago Project III exhibition catalog is now available on Blurb.
Read the reviews on The Chicago Project III, view images and watch artist talks, from the exhibition.
Awarded a 2008 Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
In Transition Russia 2008 exhibition catalog is now available as a pdf.
Read the review of my work by Bill Kouwenhoven in afterimage.
Read the review of my installation at Tacoma Contemporary in The Weekly Volcano.
Read the review of the Centennial Video Special at Crawl Space Gallery in The Stranger.
Awarded the 2008 Society for Photographic Education (SPE) National Conference Adjunct Scholarship through Midwest SPE.
Exhibitions & Events
Oxford Film Festival
February 4 – 7, 2010
Oxford, Mississippi
Screening: Westhope: Above and Below
Lo-Fi, Hi-Fi: Contemporary Video Art
January 30 – February 5, 2010
Gallery 130
116 Meek Hall, University of Mississippi
Oxford, Mississippi
Reception: February 4, 4 – 6 pm
Means Without End
October 30 – December 18, 2009
Chicago Photography Center (CPC)
3301 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, Illinois
Opening Reception: October 30, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Artist Talk: November 13, 7 pm
The Chicago Project III
July 10 – Sep. 4, 2009
Catherine Edelman Gallery
300 West Superior Street
Chicago, Illinois
Opening Reception: July 10, 5 – 8 pm
Extremely Shorts 12 Film Festival
June 27 – 28, 2009
Aurora Picture Show
2442 Bartlett Street
Houston, Texas
Juried by Bill Arning, director of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
Imag(in)ing The Future of Photography: The Photgraphic and the Digital
Novermber 7, 2008
Midwest Society for Photographic Education Regional Conference
Palace Ballroom West, Wyndham Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio
I will be presenting from 12:30 – 1:20 pm
Links
Blogs
Art Letter Bertran Projects Conscientious Conversations at the Edge Cyclops Dawoud Bey Daylight Fraction Hey Hot Shot i heart photograph It’s Nice That Jason Lazarus Jonathan Gitelson Lens Culture Mary Virginia Swanson Not if but when Plural State of the Art The Gallery Crawl and So Much More... The PhotoBookFriends
Anna Shteynshleyger Ben Russell Brandon Alvendia Brian Ulrich Chris Engman Christa Donner Colleen Plumb Daniel Sauter Deborah Stratman Ellen Garvens Eric Fleischauer Gina Rymarcsuk Heather Mekkelson Henry Horenstein Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle Irena Knezevic Isaac Layman Isak Berbic Jennifer Zwick Jonathan GitelsonMore Links
Contact
Shannon Benine via email at
shannon@shannonbenine.com
