Manfredi Beninati’s installations transport us to fictitious worlds, redolent of dreams and half forgotten memories. Interiors furnished with all the signs and hints of human occupation lie abandoned and beyond reach, tantalising us with their half-told stories.

Whether in painting, sculpture or installation, Beninati’s work often draws on personal memory as well as the instruments of memory, in particular photography. His first installation ‘Taking notes for a dream that begins in the afternoon and continues through the night...’ was based in part of memories of his great grandmother’s house. Through a small mossy window, visitors could view a long abandoned Eighteenth Century salon, now completely overgrown by plants and weeds. The strength of the piece lay in the transformation of personal memory into universal experience. The scene was at once strangely familiar – promising entry , at one remove, to a world of dreams and fiction.

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To Think of Something
Installation

Photo credit: Alex Wolkowicz