Philippe Benichou was born in French occupied Algeria and currently lives in Topanga, CA. He is an internationally known actor, director and acting coach of film, stage and television and an illustrious honorary graduate of the Actors Studio, New York, HB Studio and New York University for Film and Television. He is the founder of the Hollywood Actors Studio in California and a highly respected figure within the performing arts field.
Benichou is also an accomplished fine artist. He continues a distinguished family lineage since his mother, Arlette Oger, and his uncle, Jean Oger, were established artists in France, and influenced Philippe’s creativity at an early age. He further studied art in Paris. Exhibitions of his work have taken place worldwide including those at MOCA Museum of Computer Art in New York, NY and his work is shown at the Johnson Art Collection, Los Angeles, CA. His paintings are found in many public and private collections in the U.S. and Europe and he is the recipient of awards and prizes in United States for his artistic merit.
Benichou’s work is best described as an exuberant combination of abstract expressionism (“You”) and the non-representational color field (“Truth Seeker”). His brush strokes are unencumbered and free reminiscent of the gestural paintings of Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. Through the use of impasto and mixed media he adds a rich textural quality that matches that of Clyfford Still. But the overall emphasis is on color with its intellectual and emotional ramifications and bold sense of exploration and discovery in his enigmatic compositions.
Line and shape contribute significantly to the overall harmonies and rhythms that pervade his canvases and give them a distinct lyrical, rhythmic quality. The themes and purposes of his art express the dual quality of the flamboyance of the theatrical with vivid color and curvilinear line and the mysteriousness of the metaphysical with rich texture and elaborate pattern.
His canvases reflect his visual search for new, cosmic explorations into his inner visions and emotions rather than words. This metaphysical search philosophically is visually expressed through a variety of materials and mediums alternating from palette knife to brush, acrylic, oil, pastel, tempera, gouache and watercolor incorporating gold, silver and bronze powders to create a rich, textured impasto – a virtual fireworks display of creative and exuberant energy.
Benichou leaves a lasting impression. He finds meaning in the risk and challenge of the unconventional always evolving and inviting us to share in his never-ending journey. He takes us on an artistic odyssey making the unknown known and the invisible visible.
Nancy di Benedetto
NY Critic, Juror, Historian and Lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
© May 2003 Nancy di Benedetto
