Elisabetta Benassi

Elisabetta Benassi (Rome, 1966)
With references to the artistic and political culture of 20th century, to psychoanalysis as well as to controversial contemporary topics, Elisabetta Benassi’s work runs along a difficult space, that of the present.

In her artistic production there is a recurrent use of installations, videos, and photography which function as devices to initiate not only strong emotional suggestions, but also to provide a new moral focus in the viewer.
In the background, pressing questions loom on present condition and identity, on their relationships with the past and a push to reconsider it in a new light.

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Available works

Artworks

Elisabetta Benassi

The Pure Who Can

2024
Hand-knotted wool carpet
290 x 370 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

Camelopardalis (Testa di Michelangelo)

2024
Bronze
250 × 95 × 95 cm
Site-specific installation for Chiostro di Michelangelo, Terme di Diocleziano, Rome

Elisabetta Benassi

Divine

2024
Frottage on paper
Five elements, each 42 × 30 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

City Lights

2015-2023
15 illuminated signs, 5 steel poles, satellite watch, concrete plinth
1040 × ⌀ 670 cm
Permanent installation at Parco d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan

Elisabetta Benassi

City Lights

2015-2023
15 illuminated signs, 5 steel poles, satellite watch, concrete plinth
1040 × ⌀ 670 cm
Permanent installation at Parco d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan

Elisabetta Benassi

City Lights

2015-2023
15 illuminated signs, 5 steel poles, satellite watch, concrete plinth
1040 × ⌀ 670 cm
Permanent installation at Parco d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan

Elisabetta Benassi

Pietre di Testa [Headstones]

2022
Cloth-bound portfolio of 7 prints on paper (81 × 60 cm each)
Edition Beatrice & Flaminia Bulla
Edition of 19

Elisabetta Benassi

Le ceneri di Gramsci

2022
Artificial palm leaf, book, resin, natural fiber, polypropylene
127 × 16,5 × 24 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

Le ceneri di Gramsci

2022
Artificial palm leaf, book, resin, natural fiber, polypropylene
127 × 16,5 × 24 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

Dealing Cards

2018-2022
Glazed ceramic, 15 elements (44 × 30 × 1.5 cm each)

Elisabetta Benassi

Elisabetta Benassi, Banca Carige

2021
Watercolor on paper
50 x 61 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

Lady and Gentlemen

2021
9 refrigerators (47 × 38 × 44.5 cm each), 9 watercolours on paper, ballpoint pen, site-specific dimensions.
Installation view at Fondazione Pini, Milan 2021

Elisabetta Benassi

Lady and Gentlemen

2021
9 refrigerators (47 × 38 × 44.5 cm each), 9 watercolours on paper, ballpoint pen, site-specific dimensions
Detail. Installation view at Fondazione Pini, Milan 2021

Elisabetta Benassi

Cosciente Solidale

2020
Hand-knotted wool carpet
265 x 380 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

EMPIRE

2018-2019
6000 English hand-made black and purple firebricks (11.5 × 25 × 8 cm each), 1 bronze brick covered with gold leaf (11.5 × 25 × 8 cm), 195 × 1015 × 369 cm
Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Altemps, Rome, 2019

Elisabetta Benassi

EMPIRE

2018-2019
6000 English hand-made black and purple firebricks (11.5 × 25 × 8 cm each), 1 bronze brick covered with gold leaf (11.5 × 25 × 8 cm), 195 × 1015 × 369 cm
Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Altemps, Rome, 2019

Elisabetta Benassi

EMPIRE

2018-2019
6000 English hand-made black and purple firebricks (11.5 × 25 × 8 cm each), 1 bronze brick covered with gold leaf (11.5 × 25 × 8 cm), 195 × 1015 × 369 cm
Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Altemps, Rome, 2019

Elisabetta Benassi

EMPIRE

2018-2021
6000 English hand-made black and purple firebricks (11.5 × 25 × 8 cm each), 1 bronze brick covered with gold leaf (11.5 × 25 × 8 cm), 195 × 1015 × 369 cm
Museo Nazionale Romano, Crypta Balbi, Rome

Elisabetta Benassi

Mimetica

2018
Artificial palm tree, steel, resin, natural fiber, polypropylene
260 × 385 × 380 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

Prosperity

2017
Automated ironing machine, vapour
157 x 100 x 120 cm
Installation view at Collezione Maramotti

Elisabetta Benassi

Zeitnot

2017
Five thousand English firebricks
175 x 500 x 380 cm
Installation view at Collezione Maramotti

Elisabetta Benassi

Shadow work

2017
English firebricks, Eastern carpets
103 x 550 x 435 cm
Installation view at Collezione Maramotti

Elisabetta Benassi

It starts with the firing

2017
Five metal elements, posters, audio track
Dimensions variable
Installation view at Collezione Maramotti

Elisabetta Benassi

Infinity

2017
Bronze, wood wedges, gloves
310 x 40 x 47 cm
Installation view at Collezione Maramotti

Elisabetta Benassi

Unknown Here

2016
Hand-knotted wool carpet
300 x 397 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

Letargo

2016
Ford Escort, bronze, soil
Two elements, each 20 x 40 x 60 cm
Installation view at Magazzino

Elisabetta Benassi

Letargo

2016
Ford Escort, bronze, soil
Environmental dimensions
Installation view at Magazzino

Elisabetta Benassi

Autoritratto a lavoro (Self-Portrait at Work)

2016
Motor Hoe (Meccanica Benassi)
105 x 70 x 140 cm
Installation view at Magazzino

Elisabetta Benassi

Salamandra ZAF

2016
Steel and car emblems
171 x 350 cm
Installation view at Magazzino

Elisabetta Benassi

That’s Me In The Picture (post-card)

2016
Double-sided inkjet print on rice paper, walnut wood
210 x 110 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

That’s Me In The Picture (post-card)

2016
Double-sided inkjet print on rice paper, walnut wood
210 x 110 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

Road Rage

2016
Found truck tyre, gilded bronze
105 x 105 x 30 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

M’FUMU

2015
Cast ceramic plaster, ink, steel
Installation view at Belgian Pavilion, 56th Biennale di Venezia

Elisabetta Benassi

GGGSSSPPPPPPTTTRRRRRRGGGNNN

2014
Bronze
Variable dimensions, h 45 cm (each)

Elisabetta Benassi

Corsaro

2014
Performance, Maxxi, Rome

Elisabetta Benassi

Pausa lavoro (Mensa in fabbrica)

2013
Metal, laminated wood, motor, electronic switch, electric wires
76 × 600 × 90 cm
Installation view at Fondazione Merz, Turin, 2013

Elisabetta Benassi

Mareo Merz

2013
Wooden fishing vessel, car (Audi A4 Avant 1.8T) owned by Mario Merz, fishing net, steel
900 × 1200 × 300 cm
Installation view MAXXI, Rome

Elisabetta Benassi

Mareo Merz

2013
Wooden fishing vessel, car (Audi A4 Avant 1.8T) owned by Mario Merz, fishing net, steel
900 × 1200 × 300 cm
Installation view MAXXI, Rome

Elisabetta Benassi

Passato e presente

2013
Book, wrought iron nail
18,5 x 11,5 x 9 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

The Dry Salvages

2013
10.000 hand-made bricks, sand and 1 book
Site-specific installation at Italian Pavilion, 55th Biennale di Venezia

Elisabetta Benassi

The Dry Salvages

2013
10.000 hand-made bricks, sand and 1 book
Detail. Site-specific installation at Italian Pavilion, 55th Biennale di Venezia

Elisabetta Benassi

The Dry Salvages

2013
10.000 hand-made bricks, sand and 1 book
Detail. Site-specific installation at Italian Pavilion, 55th Biennale di Venezia

Elisabetta Benassi

Finalmente solo, finalmente tutti

2013
2 morse lamps, 2 tripods, electromagnets, electronic control unit, wood and electrical wires
Dimensions variable
Installation view at Fondazione Merz, Turin, 2013

Elisabetta Benassi

Picasso

2012
Watercolor and pencil on paper
42 x 35 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

The Bullet-Proof Angela Davis

2011
Steel and plexiglass structure, tape recorder, electric wire, watercolour on paper (30 x 29 cm)
240 x 200 x 140 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

The Innocents Abroad

2011
9 automated microfiche readers, microfiches, 9 steel tables, neon lights, electronic control unit, electrical cables, each element 140 × 80 × 80 cm, site-specific dimensions
Installation view at 54th Biennale di Venezia: ILLUMInations, curated by Bice Curiger, Corderie dell’Arsenale, Venice

Elisabetta Benassi

Stalin

2010
Watercolor and pencil on paper
40 x 33 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

Feltrinelli

2010
Watercolor, pencil and marker pen on paper
36,5 x 30,5 cm
Collection Castello di Rivoli, Turin

Elisabetta Benassi

Telegram from Buckminster Fuller to Isamu Noguchi Explaining Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

2009
Hand-knotted wool rug
500 × 618 cm
Installation view at ArtUnlimited, Basel 2009

Elisabetta Benassi

Telegram from Buckminster Fuller to Isamu Noguchi Explaining Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

2009
Hand-knotted wool rug
500 × 618 cm
Installation view at Castello di Rivoli, Turin

Elisabetta Benassi

Alfa Romeo GT Veloce 1975-2007

2007
Automobile with side lights, headlights and main beams on, transformer, electric cables
150 x 160 x 430 cm
Courtesy of Unicredit Group Collection – on long-term loan to MAXXI, Rome
Installation view of Luce di pietra, Palazzo Farnese, Rome

Elisabetta Benassi

459 metri di campo arato

2005
Inkjet print on cotton paper
80 × 113 cm

Elisabetta Benassi

Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto

2004
Videotape DV-CAM PAL colour sound transferred on DVD
1'31''

Elisabetta Benassi

Timecode

2000
Videotape Beta SP, PAL Colour Sound, 3’ 40”
With: Elisabetta Benassi, Davide Leonardi
Camera: Jacqueline Zünd

Exhibitions

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Highlights