MANUEL BENCHICO IS A GERMAN PAINTER WHO LIVES AND WORKS IN COLOGNE. HE STUDIED ART AND DESIGN AT THE RHEIN-SIEG ART ACADEMY IN HENNEF/BONN.

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HIS WORKS DEPICT PEOPLE AS DISTORTED AND DEFORMED IN OUR FAST-MOVING, TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD. THE HUMAN AS A "GLITCH" IN A NEW DIGITAL WORLD THAT IS CHANGING OUR SOCIETY AND DEVELOPING HUMAN NATURE FURTHER.

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BENCHICO'S MASK-LIKE PORTRAITS, WHICH OFTEN APPEAR FRAGMENTED, RAW AND SOMETIMES UNFINISHED, SHOW MODERN PEOPLE IN OUR TURBULENT TIMES. FACES FULL OF FEAR, WORRY AND CONFUSION, BUT ALSO FULL OF PRIDE, SELF-CONFIDENCE AND BEAUTY. AS COMPLICATED AND MULTI-LAYERED AS PEOPLE AND LIFE ARE. THE COLOR PALETTE IN HIS WORKS APPEARS BRIGHT, LOUD AND ALARMING. ON THE OTHER HAND, HOWEVER, IT IS ALSO LIVELY AND LIFE-AFFIRMING. A WORLD RICH IN CONTRAST THAT CREATES A CAPTIVATING TENSION AND DRAWS THE VIEWER THROUGH THE MULTI-FACETED PAINTINGS.