Gonzalo Bénard
Gonzalo Bénard was born in 1969 in Lisbon, Portugal.
He studied photography in Lisbon, and explored other courses like sculpture, drawing, painting and ceramics at the Lisbon Fine Arts University.
Later on he moved to Nepal, where he studied painting and philosophy at a Buddhist monastery. Bénard spent three years in the Himalayan region. With a Bon community, he was introduced to the traditional Tibetan shamanism, giving him the experience and opportunity to develop his knowledge of spirituality that he required to develop his art practice.
With over 50 exhibitions in his curriculum, Bénard's exhibited in Lisbon, Los Angels, Helsinki among other countries and more recently Toronto.
He published his first book, Mind Power, Shamanism and Consciousness in 2015, based on his own experience with brain death and his recovery with the help of meditation.
Bénard's often lectures about art-photography in several colleges and universities around the world, from Mexico to UK. His on going “B Shot by a Stranger”, a post-photography series focused on loneliness in youth and shot through webcams, has been part of the programs of several courses of photography from Tehran to Manchester, widely spread through articles as well, following his success with the shamanic series “Oneness” that he developed after he overcome is own experience with brain death using only self-portraits to express and heal himself.
Selected Exhibitions:
2017 2017 Monochromatic Landscapes, group show, Walnut Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
2017 Space Within, group show, Walnut Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, Canada 2017 Landscapes of Memory, solo show, Portugal Telecom Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
2016 Doors of Anamnesis, Lapa do Lobo Foundation, Nelas, Portugal
2014 The Imaginary Beings, Cascais Cultural Center, Cascais, Portugal
2013 Nude, Pickpocket Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal
2013 Post Mortem, Santiago, Chile
2013 Post Mortem, Ottawa, Canada
2012 B Shot by a Stranger - Oneness, Galeria Praça das Flores, Lisbon, Portugal
2012 Body Dreams and Silent Skins, Spazio Dual - ArtinPark, Lisbon, Portugal
2012 Body Dreams, FIAT, London, UK
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