About
Short Bio:
Based in the UK for the past 25 years, Pierre Benjamin is a traditional figurative painter, born and raised in the south of France in the 1980s within a creative environment surrounded by painters and photographers. This artistic upbringing naturally led him to pursue a career in the arts. As a professional 3D artist and university lecturer specializing in Game Art, he balances his passion for digital art with a deep appreciation for traditional mediums. Additionally as working as an artist, and teaching online he lectures in Academia at the University of South Wales, in Cardiff, Wales, U.K.
Artist Statement: Revival of icons
Through Revival of Icons, I revisit figures from cinema and music whose presence has endured beyond their own moment. Drawing on nostalgia and cultural memory, I am interested in the particular aura surrounding these personalities — their individuality, mystique and ability to remain culturally recognisable across generations.
In an age of constant visibility and rapidly changing popular culture, I find myself questioning whether iconic status carries the same sense of mystery and permanence it once did.
Visually, my paintings play with a language influenced by the kaleidoscope. Faces are fragmented into shifting geometric planes of colour and form, while remaining recognisable. Through this process, I reconstruct familiar images in my own contemporary visual language — bringing figures from our collective memory back into the present.
Revival of Icons is both a tribute and an exploration of nostalgia, cultural memory and the enduring power of the icon.
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About the journey that took him where he is today:
Pierre began drawing daily at the age of 10, influenced by his upbringing. His father, a photographer, nurtured his artistic inclinations, while his late grandfather, Gérard Calvet, had an even greater impact. Gérard enjoyed a highly successful international career as a figurative painter, spanning several decades from the 1960s to the late 2010s, with his work gaining recognition both in France and the United States.
At the age of 15, Pierre transitioned to sculpting and stone carving under the guidance of renowned sculptor Serge Destarac, who specialized in marble and wood. In 1999, he furthered his education at the prestigious school of the Louvre Museum in Paris, where he studied Greek, Egyptian, Roman, and Assyrian antiquities—an invaluable opportunity that greatly expanded his artistic knowledge.
Pierre moved to the UK in the year 2000, after relocating from Paris where he studied History of Art in the prestigious Musee du Louvre.
While in Cardiff, Pierre then completed a Bachelor of Arts and Master Degree in games and animation in the University of South Wales, in the U.K.
His source of inspiration was always very diverse. From the classic Greek and Egyptian antiquities to the Renaissance and beyond. His own style is influenced by classic artists such as Georges Oudot, Vincent Van Gogh, Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec.
A recent interview with Dubai Art gallery based MONDOIR Art is available here:
https://mondoir.art/blog/burnt
A podcast interview is available on Spotify and Apple Podcast
see links below to listen to it:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/00CIl01ZTgw8CsFy0m4dVf?si=Hlg1neDfSja9xb9hWEO-jw
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/artist-interview-pierre-benjamin/id1485813093?i=1000697224439
Social Media links:
https://www.instagram.com/pierre_benjamin
https://www.tiktok.com/@artofpierrebenjamin
https://www.canvasgallery.com/artists/200-pierre-benjamin/works/