Erick Antonio Benitez

Based in LA & Baltimore

eb3nitez@gmail.com II @the_artist_being_

Education

2023 - MFA in Art & Integrated Media, California Institute College of the Arts, Valencia, CA, USA

2014 - BFA in Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, USA


Awards/ Grants/ Residencies

2021 - Charles Gaines MFA Fellowship

2020 - Second Place Trawick Prize

2019 - Pigment Sauvage Residency, Montréal, Canada 

2019 - Baltimore Light City Festival Commission  

2018 - Janet and Walter Sondheim Award

2018 - MASB Artist Travel Prize ( to the Peruvian Amazon Jungle)

2018 - The Studios at MASS MoCa Residency, North Adams, MA

2016 - Ruby Artist Project Grant Grantee in Performing and Media Arts

2016 - The Contemporary : Grit Fund 2  

2015 - First Place Prize Award; "Emulsion" Annual Juried Exhibition 

2012 - Honorable Mention Award; MICA "Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition"

2010 - Studio Arts, Metàfora Studio Arts Program, Barcelona, Spain


Selected Exhibitions

2022 - This Is Not Surrealism, Dinner Gallery, New York, NY, curated by RegularNormal

2022 - Country Made of Ice Cream, Selenas Mountain, Ridgewood, NY

2022 - The Watcher (MFA Mid-Res exhibition), Gallery 300, California Institute College of the Arts, Valencia, CA

2021 - Solo Booth Presentation, Swab Art Fair, Barcelona (ESP), curated La Unica Galleria

2021 - Stretched; Spring Group Show, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Arlington, VA curated by Blair Murphy

2021 - Lux (group exhibition) , Current Space Gallery, Baltimore, MD

2021 - Software for People; The Mind is Time and Space, Virtual Performance Series, curated Sindkit

2021 - Stretched, Spring Group Exhibition, Arlington Art Center, Arlington, VA, curated by Blair Murphy

2020 - La Track Project, Galerie B-312, Montreal, Canada, curated by Pigment Sauvage

2020 - Trawick Prize Finalist Exhibition, Gallery B, Bethesda, MD curated by Larry Cook, Carrie Fucile, & Noah Simblist

2020 - BMA Art Salon, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD

2020 - Aceptar, Smith Center Gallery, Washington, DC, curated by Irene Coultier

2020 - Authentic Realities (3 person show), Catalyst Contemporary, Baltimore, MD

2020 - La Track Project, Galerie B-312, Montreal - Quebec, Canada, curated by Pigment Sauvage

2019 - Mickalene Thomas: A Moment’s Pleasure (featuring video artist), The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD

2019 - La Track Project, Baltimore ICA, Baltimore, MD curated by Pigment Sauvage

2019 - Foliaform, The Silber Gallery at Goucher College, Baltimore, MD, Curated by Alex Ebstein 

2019 - Esta Tierra Es Tu Tierra, Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Lancaster PA, curated by Gabrielle Buzgo

2019 - Transceiver Radio, Transformer Gallery, Washington DC, Curated by Joshua Gamma 

2019 - Young Collectors Contemporary, Art Fair, Memphis, TN 

2018 - Janet and Walter Sondheim Award Exhibition, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, Juried by Lauren Cornell, Margo Norton, and Kameelah Janan Rasheed.

2018 - Terrault’s 3rd Juried Exhibition, Terrault Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Juried by Amy Boone-McCreesh, Amy Raehse, and Melissa Webb

2018 - A City of Magic Carpets, The Gallery at City Hall, Baltimore, MD

2018 - Journey to Atzlán, Gaddis Geeslin Gallery at Sam Houston University, Huntsville, TX, curated by Ashley Dehoyos

2018 - 12 x 12, Mono Practice Gallery, Baltimore MD, curated by Ruri Yu

2018 - Small Works Exhibition, The Real Milk Studios, Atlanta, Georgia

2018 - “___________” Group Exhibition, The Menial Collection, Baltimore, MD 

2018 - Cultural Perspectives Exhibition, Strathmore Mansion, Bethesda, MD

2017 - Eroica: Freedom Exhibition, Space Camp Gallery, Baltimore, MD curated by LabBodies

2017 - Plant•Sa•Tion: 2 Person Exhibition w/ Ariel C Foster, El Palacio del Sol, Baltimore, MD

2017 - Simultan Festival 2017: Juried Video Screening, Timisoara, Romania

2017 - Move Move Collaborations: Improvisations, Church on the Square, Baltimore, MD

2017 - Surveyed: “Who’s Watching”, Artscape Festival, Baltimore, MD, curated by LabBodies

2017 - Art as Resistance, Syntax Physic Opera, Denver, CO, curated by Strange Fire Collective

2016 - Esta Tierra Es Tu Tierra: Preview Exhibition, Current Space Gallery, Baltimore, MD

2016 - Relics: group exhibition, EMP Collective, Baltimore, MD, curated by Woven Autonomo

2016 - Foreigners, Light Hole Gallery, Baltimore, MD, curated by Victor Torres

2015 - Blushing Group Exhibition, Ballroom Gallery, Baltimore, MD, curated by Claire Felonis

2015 - Blanche Carte: Group Exhibition, Adah Rose Gallery, Kensington, MD

2015 - Emulsion Annual Juried Exhibition, Gallery O on H, Washington DC, curated Adah Rose Bitterbaum

2015 - B/B/B Not From Here, Not From There, Gallery CA, Baltimore, MD

2014 - Academy 2014: Annual Invitational MFA/BFA Exhibition, Connor Smith Gallery, Washington DC

2014 - Tres Golpes: 3 Person Exhibition, La Bodega Gallery, Baltimore, MD

2012 - MICA Annual Juried Exhibition, Decker Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD Juried by Jack Livingston and Karyn Miller

2012 - Seeing Red Group Exhibition, Arena Stage Gallery, Washington DC

Publication

2021 - “New American Paintings”, Issue 154, South Issue, 2021

2021 -“What we saw at Swab Art Fair 2021. Here are the Booths we liked the most, Daily-Lazy”, October 21, 2021

2021 - “Las 9 obras que más nos han gustado de la feria de arte emergente SWAB Barcelona, By Jose Luis Gonzalez, Architectural Digest España, October 9, 2021

2021 - Exhibition Visits, By Amy Boone-Mcreesh, Inertia Studio Visits, August 18, 2021

2020 - Perspectives on blending culture and identity, By Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, December 11, 2020

2020- AU’s Artist StudioSeries, By Thomas Recchio, The Eagle, July 29, 2020

2020 - New Baltimore Museum of Art Programs Prioritize Support for Local Artists and Organization, By Valentina Di Liscia, Hyperallergic, May 27, 2020

2020 - “Marcher dans les merges”, By Jerôme Delgado, Le Devoir, March 7th, 2020

2020 -​ “Esta Tierra Es Tu Tierra​”, Terremoto Magazine, January 12, 2020

2018 - “Bmore Art Magazine : Home”, Issue Six, Fall/Winter 2018 

2018 - “Pre-Packaged Nature”, by Noelani Krishner, The American Scholar : Portrait of the Artist, October 22. 2018 

2018 - “A sandal, a toothbrush, a wall: Sondheim winner Benitez draws empathy into Immigration debate”, by Talia Richman and Colin Campbell, The Baltimore Sun, July 15, 2018

2018 - “And the 2018 Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize Goes to…” by Lauren LaRocca, Baltimore Magazine, July 15, 2018

2018 - “This Land Is Your Land”, by Willow Pinkerton, Baltimore Style, July 18, 2018

2018 - “The 2018 Sondheim Finalist in Photos”, by Cara Ober, BmoreArt, March 26, 2018

2017 - “Envisioning and Embodying Freedom” by Angela Carrol, BmoreArt, November 16, 2017

2017 - “Hysteria: Vol.2, June 24, 2017

2017 - “Twenty-Two Studios In Two Days” by Cara Ober, BmoreArt, March 6, 2017

2016 - “This Land Is Your Land” by Angela Carroll, BmoreArt, November 16, 2016

2015 - “BmoreArt Journal of Art + Ideas: PLACE”, Issue One, Fall/Winter 2015

2015 - “Borders, Boundaries, Barricades: Building a Performance Art Audience in Baltimore” by Kristin Mcwharter, What Weekly, July 9, 2015

2015 - “In the galleries: Two Photographs, two perspectives” by Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, August 8, 2015

2015 - “Erick Benitez Wins First Prize in Juried Emulsion Show” by Cara Ober, BmoreArt, March 21, 2015

2014 - “Academy 2014” by Micheal O'Sullivan, Washington Post, July 17, 2014

2013 - “Coffee, Whisky, and Art in Station North” by Baynard Woods, Baltimore City Paper, March 13, 2013

Presentations l Panels l Artist Talks

2020 - Media Arts Panel for National Endowment of the Arts

2020 - Guest Speaker @ Curatorial Practices, Maryland Institute College of Art

2019 - Artist Talk at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design

2019 - Bloomberg Arts Panel, Young Audience of Maryland

2019 - Artist Panel & Talk at CCBC, (Baltimore County, MD)

2019 - Breaking Borders in the Arts Panel at Baltimore School for the Arts,

2018 - CIRCA Presents: Artist Talk at The University of Maryland, Baltimore County

2018 - Breaking Boundaries: Artist Talk at Frederick Douglass Isaac Maritime Park, hosted by the International Interior Design Association Mid-Atlantic Chapter

2016 - Artist Presentation at the Smithsonian Latino Center (Washington, DC)

Sound Performances

2020 - Sentient Planet at North Ave Market, March 14 (Balt, MD)

2019 - High Zero: Worlds of Collision at Artscape Festival, July 20th (Balt, MD)

2019 - Transformer Gallery x Tranciever Radio: Resident Artist, May 2019, (Washington, DC)

2019 - The Aquarium at B40, April 28th, (Balt, MD)

2019 - Soft House at Copycat Building, February 1 (Balt, MD)

2018 - The Aquarium at B40, November 10th  (Balt, MD)

2018 - The Red Room, June 10th, (Balt, MD)

2018 - Drone Brunch @ The Holy Underground, March 6, (Balt, MD)

2018 - Roots & Raices Festival @ Motor House, June 13, (Balt, MD)

2017 - The Crown, October 8th, (Balt, MD)