Simon Benetton’s macro-sculptures are born within nature in harmonious fusion with the surrounding space.
Between 2000 and 2007, references to the natural world capable of creating new relationships between the artworks and the environment became increasingly frequent. During these years the famous Foglie or Le Oasi were created, where forms develop like soft plant stems gently curved by the wind. Simon Benetton laid the foundation for a new vision of form centered on the curvilinear and multidirectional dynamics of iron structures.

What here emerges is a desire to recreate a space that is no longer governed by precise coordinates and directions, where the plastic form is capable of “tramutare energia cosmica in sinuosità di ferro” (“transmuting cosmic energy into iron sinuosity”).
In this context, the work Spazio cosmico of 2012 is emblematic. In this artwork, the floating and light forms seem to defy gravity.

The search for a new spatial dynamics develops in relation to a renewed concept of light, thanks to the introduction of crystal and its complex combination with iron. Benetton started to introduce jagged crystal elements in his works, especially since 2005.
Crystal certainly represents the colour, the veiling and the transparency that are so much sought after also in contemporary graphic works; however, the material and plastic texture of glass allows for a new vision of the intrinsic values of sculpture: matter, space, light.

Throughout his career, Simon Benetton has provided a personal solution to the dialectical opposition between matter and space, between solid and void, through the articulation of cuts and the dematerialisation of the iron sheet. In this context, the introduction of crystal represents one of the most suggestive milestones because of its conceptual value: crystal represents the materialisation of light.

In this sense, Benetton resolves the problem of the relativity and contingency of light in sculpture, attributing it an absolute and structural value within the artwork itself.

The graphic research of the last fifteen years stands out for countless works on paper, canvas, panel, using different materials and techniques. The natural evolution of the graphic and pictorial solutions developed in the previous years almost seems to materialise.
The close relationship between the formal structures and especially the particular attention given to colour and colour transparency make it possible to identify in these work the unitary corpus of an artwork that is completely autonomous and parallel to the sculptural artwork.

This evolution is also related to the discovery or, rather, the rediscovery of certain materials. These are large works made with mixed techniques that can create suggestive pictorial effects.
In the graphic works, the form is increasingly articulated in several directional impulses, and the curvilinear structures tend to fold and intersect, generated by an immediate and almost instinctive gesture. The most significant outcomes are achieved in a series of large panels defined as “segni di fuoco” and created directly with a blowtorch between 2011 and 2012.
These works represent another moment of close contact between graphic and sculptural works, starting with the tool used: the torch.
Placed at a distance from the wooden panel, the blowtorch draws a series of continuous and fluid lines like a brush on canvas.

In this way, Simon Benetton decided to extend the action of fire to mark a surface as a direct and immediate projection of his existential gesture.
Between 2014 and 2016, Maestro Simon Benetton created “L’Icona di luce” and the “Scultura Eterea”. “L’Icona di luce” represents an event detached from the past iconography, conveying a planetary human message of hope for the future. The materials used are stainless steel and once again jagged crystal. The crystal was worked through a refined personal technique of Maestro. With a small hammer freehand, he molded and shaped the crystal in perfect harmony with the steel sculptural part. This dialogue aims to be spiritual and finds its culmination in the period of “Scultura Eterea”.

Notable works include the 2016 Parabola Eterea e Nuovo Capitolo. With the blowtorch, Maestro Simon Benetton heated the stainless steel sheet to very high temperature giving the works an ethereal golden colour. The sculture becomes extremely thin with the metaphorical intention of dissolving into space. Considered as the heaviest and sternest material in nature, iron is once again compared to human and social structure challenging earthly gravity. This challenge was skillfully pursued by Maestro throughout his artistic career.

The “Scultura Eterea” reveals the intellectual message at its apex, matter is brought to dissolve into the infinite space. In this way, the journey to eternity begins.