Helena Ben-Zenou
University Teacher, Faculty of Social Sciences
Contact
Biography
Helena Ben-Zenou is co-director of the BA(Hons) Fine Art and undergraduate Fine Art programme. Helena studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (MFA Fine Art 2002).
Research Summary
As a practitioner Helena's primary interest is in architecture, urban spaces, and the city's relationship to contemporary art practice. Working primarily in painting, but also in photography,… read more
Current Research
As a practitioner Helena's primary interest is in architecture, urban spaces, and the city's relationship to contemporary art practice. Working primarily in painting, but also in photography, installation and curation, works and projects explore the transitory and contradictory nature of cities, and address the physicality and social history of urban spaces. Works originate through visiting sites of architectural and historical interest, taking photographs, making notes, and walking through the city itself - as an informed wandering.
Recent projects also include a commission by Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery, to produce a new painting for their permanent collection responding to the renovations and architectural transitions at Wollaton Hall, a Tudor mansion and Natural History Museum on the outskirts of Nottingham.
Past Research
During the past nine years Helena's work has concentrated on exploring areas of East London, particularly the industrial and post industrial landscapes of areas along and around the A13. This has included collaborative explorations with painter Jock McFadyen and writer Iain Sinclair, leading to the exhibition 'A13'. Based at the Wapping Project in East London 'A13' was organised in conjunction with the Architecture Foundation in 2004 (An Architecture Foundation exhibition). Sprawling decaying industry, Docklands, programmes of construction, polluted nature, concrete, asphalt, and the relentless, flat, bleakness of the road and its environs, provides a wealth of material about cities, their entrances, exits, and their peripheries.
As part of the Vickers Art Award 2005/06, Helena completed a new series of paintings exploring the Industrial landscapes of Derbyshire. From the rural architecture of the Derbyshire quarries and mines, to major urban industrial and construction sites in Derby, the large-scale paintings investigate the contrasts of the Derbyshire Industrial Landscape and aim to raise questions about the changing landscapes of Britain. For this project Helena also undertook a short collaboration with poet, broadcaster and commentator Ian McMillan, whose resultant writing was published in the accompanying publication 'Helena Ben-Zenou - Industrial Relations'. This publication also included an essay by Robert Clark.