About

Meet Karen Benelli, a Fine Artist From New Mexico

A woman with long hair and wearing earrings.

NARRATIVE

Karen Benelli has been an artist most of her life. She is both self-taught and formally educated. She has lived in many parts of the world and began her formal training as a teenager living in Turkey. She attended art classes at the University of Rome in the early '80s and continued her art education while living in San Antonio, Texas and Los Alamos, NM. Karen has remained an active artist, working creatively over the last 20+ years. She demonstrates a broad range of talent based on her wide range of experiences and exposure.

Karen's painting style can be intricately detailed and naturalistic; or complex, abstracted representational pieces. However, at the heart of her work is an aesthetic that is characteristic of naive or primitive art.

In the tradition of Earl Cunningham, Grandma Moses, and Georgia O'Keeffe

Karen seeks to tell a story of everyday life, dreams and fantasies, a serene world with a love of color and shapes. Consequently, the watercolors, alcohol inks, and acrylics of Karen Benelli are both complicated and simplistic.

There is often an indifference to perspective within a highly sophisticated composition. There is an emphasis on the narrative of the work, and the viewer's attention converges on certain details while exploring the succession of shapes and images on the same plane. Karen's paintings demonstrate a diversity of style, and yet, are remarkably unified as a body of work. They carry a personal message that conveys a work that is restful, festive and ordinary, beautiful, and mysterious.

Karen sells her work primarily from her studio.

While living in San Antonio, her paintings were represented by the gallery, Art Inc. Upon moving to Los Alamos, NM in 1994, Karen was the owner of Cafe Allegro, where she displayed her work, along with supporting many other local artists. She has sold her pieces at art shows and fairs, and she has been the recipient of numerous awards.

Karen now resides in Bernalillo, NM. She is represented by Enchanted Sugar Gallery located Cottonwood Mall, 10000 Coors Bypass NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114. You can purchase her unique artwork from the Gallery and Jeweled Adornments.

And you can now visit our Etsy Shop ~ Special Me This Studio

Karen is certified as a New Mexico True Artist.

A painting of chili peppers on a red background.

You can also purchase Karen's artwork currently at

Enchanted Sugar
Cottonwood Mall
Albuquerque, NM 87114

and

Circle Round
4484 Corrales Road
Corrales, NM 87048

And visit our Etsy Shop ~ Special Me This Studio