Arts Alive San Antonio

BY JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editot

There was a time when artist Sylvia Benitez expressed her creativity by constructing all sorts of experimental, site-specific – and often ephemeral – installations that won praise, awards and grants. That was when she lived on the East Coast, trying to follow the contemporary art trends.

Today, Benitez lives near Seguin in a peaceful, pastoral enclave that inspires her current artistic interest – landscape painting. Though inspired by nature, her landscapes tend to be more abstract, more personal, more lyrical and slightly mysterious. Actor Peter Lobdell called her art “visual poetry.”

“Like a poem builds word upon word, her images rise from mark upon mark to build places – landscapes of the mind,” he wrote.

San Antonians have the opportunity to see these “landscapes of the mind” in an exhibit at the San Antonio Art League and Museum, which named Benitez the 2022 Artist of the Year, an award that was originally established in 1946.

According to Roberta Buckles who chaired the Artist-of-the Year committee, the selection process starts with suggestions from committee members. The basic criteria are the quality of the artwork, consistency of the artwork, and the artist’s involvement in the community here or elsewhere. Every committee member picked three names. Following a meticulous process of evaluation, they ended up with three final names of  Artist-of-the-Year candidates.

After that step, the portfolios, are sent to three independent judges outside Texas, for the final selection. These judges can be museum curators, gallery owners or university-level art professors. This year’s trio of out-of-state judges were: Jerald Melberg owner of the Gerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte, N. Carolina; Leroy Garcia, owner of the Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe. New Mexico, and Tom Krumpak, art professor at California State University in Long Beach.

“The three were unanimous for Sylvia,” said Buckles. “Her work was consistent, it was professionally painted in a beautiful way, and it evoked emotions that they could identify with. Also, her work and her artist statement made sense together. Again, her paintings connect with people.”

And not just in Texas. “The fact that her work spoke to these jurors from different parts of the country, proves that the appeal of her work transcends the boundaries of Texas,” said SAALM president Claudia
Langford. “It’s work, that touches people.”

In an interview a year or so ago, when she had a solo exhibit at the Carver Center, Benitez explained that her process was largely intuitive and subconscious. She may decide on a certain approach, for instance, but when she actually gets to her canvas, something else starts to emerge. She now describes her pieces as “painted amalgams of my stored memories, (that are) painted to share or to find peace, to grow hope, to restore, to enter, to give distance from sadness, from the burden of out rime.”

She also chose the landscape format to paint her “amalgams” which may be why viewers respond so spontaneously.

In this context, Lyn Belisle, 1st VP of SAALM, who was also part of the recent Zoom conversation with the Artist-of-the-Year Committee members, drew our attention to a new book, “The Art Instinct” whose author postulates that “the human appreciation for art is innate, and that certain artistic values are universal across cultures, such as a preference for landscape.” He further explains that this preference is an “evolutionary trait.” If confirmed by further study, this is a fascinating insight.

In addition to focusing on her own art, Benitez has helped many women artists in San Antonio by founding the Gentileschi Aegis Gallery Association, known as GAGA which serves its members by organizing group exhibits, providing peer support and educational programming. The organization presently has sixty members.

We were not able to interview Benitez herself for this article as she had to fly to Maryland to take care of her ailing parents. But here’s what she wrote for the exhibition catalog: “Here, there still exist an untamed land, relatively unmarred by modern footprint. I try to capture this pristine nature -its pioneer spirit/essence… Lately, my love of landscape painting has taken on new meaning/significance…
My message today is quiet but no less powerful. We must appreciate and see, experience and respect our world. It needs to be celebrated as much as it needs to be protected.”
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The Artist of the Year six-week exhibit, Seasons Change, will open Sunday, Sept. 25 with a reception 3-5 p.m.. SAALM is located at 130 King William St.; open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 210-223-1140; www.saalm.org. There will be an Artist Talk Oct. 23, 3-5 p.m.