Mario Benjamin's new exhibit 'Le Choc de Retour'

Last night was the vernissage of artist Mario Benjamin's new exhibit 'Le Choc de Retour'.

Mario Benjamin is one of the leading artist of Haitian contemporary art. He uses video and multi-media, painting, installation and other mixed media to address issues of identity, ethnicity, and race. Benjamin was self-taught and started painting at the age of 14. He learned about the international contemporary art trends from frequenting museums in New York, D.C. and abroad. At the age of 20, in his first exhibit, he sold out of all his paintings. In 1984 he participated in Festival Arts d’Haiti and since then has represented Haiti in numerous prestigious exhibits such as in Johannesburg, Havana, Sao Paulo and Venice.

'The black tones and darkness of Benjamin’s recent productions reflect the artist’s fear of becoming stifled by a society and a reality that limits is reflections, his expressive needs and his individuality. The work shows a will to convey the idea that things that appear to conform, or that assume the guise of acceptability, might in reality be very different.' (Galerie Monnin)

Mario Benjamin’s work has always intrigued me. You can feel the emotion and can image the place in which his obvious pain, fear, anger comes from. It tempts, draws you in, but forbids you to follow.