Benita Raphan, visionary filmmaker, dies at the age of 58
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, November 8, 2024


Benita Raphan, visionary filmmaker, dies at the age of 58
Benita Raphan was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2019.

by Julia Rock & Miriam Kuznets



NEW YORK, NY.- Benita Raphan, visionary filmmaker, died in January 2021 at the age of 58. Her life's work about geniuses garnered multiple awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2019.

Her visual portraits examined the eccentric and brilliant inner lives of iconic figures, including R. Buckminster Fuller, John Nash, and Helen Keller. Her most recent film, “Up to Astonishment,” explored the life and work of Emily Dickinson

As Benita told StudioDaily: “I am interested in revisiting a life or a career from the very start, from the beginning; the basic concept as initial thought, as an impulse, as an ineffable compulsion, an intuition; to reframe and reinvent an action as simple as one pair of hands touching pencil to paper." Her films appeared on the Sundance Channel, HBO, PBS, and Channel Four Television in the UK, and they were screened at numerous festivals including the Sundance, Tribeca, Telluride, Hamptons, and AFI DOCS, and at the MoMA and the Walker Art Center. Filmmaker Alan Berliner, who served as one of her mentors, wrote: “Benita combines her love of knowledge, her passion for excavating a subject as deeply as possible, a disciplined work ethic, a devoted sense of purpose, along with her world-class graphic arts skill set, into works of beauty, illumination and extreme visual sophistication.”

Benita grew up on the Upper West Side and attended The Calhoun School, Fieldston, and Bronx Science, and graduated high school from City-As-School, where an internship with renowned photographer Albert Watson spurred her artistic journey. She earned a BFA from New York's School of Visual Arts. A college classmate later wrote that Benita “was an iconoclast even back in the early 1980s—the first person I knew who had her nose pierced.” While most peers of that era wore black, Benita wore a trademark white dress.

She moved to London to get her MFA from the Royal College of Art, and then on to Paris to work with fashion designers Yohji Yamamoto and Girbaud. Benita returned to New York to live in an apartment she curated in the style of “flea market modern,” as wrote The New York Times, and to work in graphic design. For the past 15 years, Benita worked at the School of Visual Arts.

Benita brimmed with friendly curiosity and passion for this world. In her Dickinson film, she used hundreds of flashing images, including those of cobalt and emerald butterflies. Benita too could zoom in on a flower specially planted to attract her and then zoom out to flutter through shadows. The shape of the number "8" and the letter "a" fascinated her, as did the taper of a friend's finger. A prolific correspondent, she crafted distinctive envelopes that moved a lifelong friend to save and savor them.

Quick to celebrate her family's and friends' good news, Benita helped each loved one feel special. She championed underdogs---literally in the case of Pete and Rothko whom she adopted and adored. She also volunteered through the New York Public Library's Language and Literacy Program. She cherished the children she knew, particularly her niece and nephews. Friends and colleagues remember her “spirit and style" and "fierce loyalty."

Benita is survived by her mother, Roslyn Raphan; her sister, Melissa Raphan and brother-in-law Tom Rock, as well as their children, Sam, Matt, Julia, and Pete, and the extended Rock family; and her stepfamily.










Today's News

March 3, 2021

ARTBnk Releases Anselm Kiefer Market Report

6 Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published over offensive images

Phillips announces monumental Jean Dubuffet to star in 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Vanishing in the desert, traditional Bedouin culture lives online

Christie's announces rediscovered painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, 'Portrait of Denyse'

Swann sets auction record for Frederick Douglass autograph = $112K

Prince 'Cloud' guitar, 'Purple Rain' shirt among music memorabilia up for auction

Christie's Spring Season of Global 20th Century Sales launches in London and New York

Sprüth Magers opens first solo exhibition by John Waters at its Los Angeles gallery

Geneva's Museum of Art and History reopens and launches major transformation

Omer Tiroche Gallery opens online-only exhibition "The Power of Advertising"

Sunny NY: A new, artist-run gallery opens in the East Village

Benita Raphan, visionary filmmaker, dies at the age of 58

Carvalho Park opens the first exhibition of Paris-based artist Garance Vallée in the United States

Regis Philbin memorabilia auction to raise money for Bronx Food Bank

Design Museum Holon unveils "Black Box: Objects from the Collection of Design Museum Holon"

Tampa Museum of Art announces Branko van Oppen as Curatorial Consultant for Ancient Art

Records broken at landmark Cheffins Art & Design Sale

Crescent City Auction Gallery announces highlights included in its Important Spring Estates Auction

His books inspired lovestruck teens to put locks on bridges

Famed Italian house music DJ Claudio Coccoluto dies at 59

Heritage Auctions' sports category hammers home a $42 million February

Reggae great Bunny Wailer dead at 73

One of Turkey's hottest rock bands has an unlikely source

Essential components of law assignment.

Has Quality Been Lost in Contemporary Art?

Dangers that Come with Online Slots Gaming

Does Evolution Gaming develop slots?

How do snow guards work?

9 Hacks for Writing Killer Articles in Half the Time

Why Basic Electrical Appliances Are Necessary?




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful