Global art sensation Benjamin Shine exhibits in Canberra

Posted on 30 March, 2021

Hundreds of millions of viewers have watched multidisciplinary artist Benjamin Shine create humanity out of tulle.

And now Canberrans get to have him all to themselves for a short time this fortnight.

Benjamin’s talents have been called upon in collaborations with The MET, Givenchy, Maison Margiela, Bergdorf Goodman, Beyonce, and Vogue, and his work has been exhibited around the globe.

Benjamin Shine’s Bergdorf Goodman collaboration.

But Canberra likes to lay claim to the artistic genius—who, while British-born and a graduate of fashion at Central Saint Martins in London, met and fell in love with a Canberra girl, Danielle, a qualified chef and nutritionist.

While Benajmin would normally be working between New York, London and Canberra, the couple are currently hunkered down in the National Capital thanks to COVID. Which is truly a blessing for art-lovers.

On Wednesday, Benjamin will unveil his latest exhibition, “Defining Moments” at the Grainger Gallery in Fyshwick.

It is a huge coup for the gallery, which only opened at the end of last year but has already established itself as a new cultural hub within the Dairy Road precinct.

Owner and artist Kacy Grainger is absolutely thrilled to be the first to exhibit Ben’s latest body of work, which starts here, before setting sail on a world tour and eventually landing in Monaco.

Flux by Benjamin Shine.

Benjamin approached the gallery when he heard about the beautiful new space and Kacy snapped up the opportunity. “How could we resist working with an artist who has worked with the likes of John Galliano and Beyonce on a glamorous world stage. What a privilege!”

The show will run until April 4 and presents new works from Benjamin’s ongoing Flow series —which serves as both a personal practice and tribute to mindfulness and meditation. In these sculptural works, the notion of finding clarity within chaos is reflected in the abstracted and anonymous faces that are formed from the folds of a single length of tulle.

“Defining Moments” is Benjamin’s first gallery exhibition in Canberra. He was commissioned by The Canberra Centre in 2015 to create a large-scale installation entitled “The Dance”.

Awakening by Benjamin Shine. Photography by Nick Onken

His works have been exhibited and purchased by private collectors and arts institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Arts and Design New York, The Crafts Council UK and The London Design Museum. Benjamin has also won a number of awards including the Red Dot Design Award, The Enterprising Young Brit Award and the Arts Export Award in Australia.

He was recently listed as one of the 500 people shaping the fashion industry by the Business of Fashion while videos of his work have amassed over 250 million views via publication including New York Magazine and The Huffington Post.

The exhibition will open on Wednesday 31^st at 6pm and Benjamin will give an Artist Talk with HerCanberra Associate Editor Emma Macdonald. The event is open to the public.