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Benini, Painter
Italy / Texas

Benini's exhibition career started with a one-man show in Milan, Italy in 1961.  During his late teens and early 20’s, Benini painted landscapes and still lifes in a traditional style.  By 1965, his painting evolved into large-scale, monochromatic renderings of the human figure.  From the mid-1970’s, he alternated large-scale representations of the rose and dream-like paintings with strong symbolist content.  During the mid-1980’s, Benini’s work took a sharp turn toward geometry and the mathematical sciences.  At present, he is continuing his explorations in this field.  To date, he has had 150 one-man exhibitions, primarily in universities, public institutions and museums.

In 1999, Benini and his wife Lorraine  purchased 140 acres in the Texas Hill Country that have been turned Into the Benini Foundation and Sculpture Ranch which includes the residence, guesthouse and a 14000 sq. ft. Studios Building with offices, showroom, studios and fine arts library. In the surrounding hilly, Mediterranean-like landscape, national and international sculptors are placing large-scale contemporary works. For more information about Benini and to view other artwork, visit:  www.Benini.com.

Eyfells, Sculptor
Iceland / Texas

A revolutionary sculptor, art professor at the University of Central Florida for over 30 years, one-time architect and son of an Icelandic landscape painter, Eyfells is known to many in Central Florida as the Grandfather of Sculpture. Born in 1923 in Reykjavik, Iceland, he studied at several  universities earning a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1953 and later a master's degree in fine art in 1964. In 1949, Eyfells married Kristin Halldorsdottir, former Icelandic model and dress designer, who made her own career side by side with her husband mastering in fine art, sculpture and photography. Eyfells worked as an architect, artist and teacher in Iceland and the United States until 1969, when he and Kristin moved to Florida. There he continued to work as an artist and professor of art at the University of Central Florida.

Eyfells began producing abstract sculptures in the 60's based on his experiments in chemistry and physics, utilizing the various transformational properties of metals, especially aluminum, iron and copper. He calls his work "receptual" based on his concept of receptualism, a theory he developed to explain the essence of his work. He has received much recognition throughout his career including an invitation from the government of Iceland to represent his homeland at the 45th Venice Biennale and inclusions in the 9-museum traveling exhibition "What Nature Provides" and the United Nations' "World Artists at the Millenium". For more about Eyfells, visit www.eyfellsandeyfells.com.
 

Works by Marshall Cunningham, M.D., can be found in collections dating back twenty years. Eight of his pieces, including his eight-piece Gathering can be seen at the Sculpture Ranch.  For more information, visit:  www.CunninghamArtStudio.com.