Maurice Benayoun




Most Recent Affiliation(s):


  • City University Hong Kong, School of Creative Media, Curator and _Professor

Also Known as:


  • MoBen or 莫奔

ISEA Bio(s) Available:


  • ISEA2023

    Maurice Benayoun (DZ/FR/HK) Media artist and theorist, Paris-Hong Kong, Maurice Benayoun (MoBen, 莫奔) is a pioneering figure of New Media Art. MoBen’s 4 decades of practice freely explores media boundaries, from virtual reality to large-scale public art installations, AI and crypto art, from a socio-political and philosophical perspective. With more than 25 international awards MoBen exhibited in festivals in more than 30 different countries. MoBen work is now following a radical path between AI, neuro-design and NFTs using the Blockchain as a medium of expression. He is presently Professor at the School of Creative Media, CityU of Hong Kong.

    ISEA2022

    Maurice Benayoun (aka MoBen or 莫奔) (born 29 March 1957 in Mascara, Algeria) is a French pioneer, contemporary new-media artist, curator and theorist based in Paris and Hong Kong. His work employs various media, including (and often combining) video, computer graphics, immersive virtual reality, the Internet, performance, EEG, 3D Printing, large-scale urban media art installations and interactive exhibitions. Often conceptual, Maurice Benayoun’s work constitutes a critical investigation of the mutations in the contemporary society induced by the emerging or recently adopted technologies.

    ISEA2020

    Maurice Benayoun (FR/HK) School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. Maurice Benayoun (aka MoBen) is a French pioneer, contemporary new-media artist based in Paris and Hong Kong. His work employs various media, including video, computer graphics, Virtual Reality, the Internet, EEG, AI, Blockchain and large-scale urban media art installations. He has been widely exhibited around the world in major festivals and Museums. Often conceptual, MoBen’s work constitutes a critical investigation of the mutations in the contemporary society induced by the emerging or recently adopted technologies. MoBen produced many urban media.

    He created and curated for 3 years the Open Sky Gallery on the 70 000 sqm façade of the ICC Tower, Hong Kong. MoBen ‘s work has been awarded by close to 30 international awards including Ars Electronica Golden Nica. Maurice Benayoun, taught at Paris1 Pantheon Sorbonne University, Paris8, and the French National School of Arts. He is presently Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University, Hong Kong.

    ISEA2019

    Maurice Benayoun (MoBen, 莫奔) is a conceptual media artist based in Hong Kong and Paris. Pioneer of new media art, his work has been a continuous attempt to redefine art practice and the place of the artist in Society. Through VR, AR, AI and urban media art, MoBen explores the limits of the promises of advanced media, unveiling their societal impact beyond their technological and aesthetic potential. Creating subtle though spectacular interactive artworks, he has been exhibited in major international museums, biennials and festivals in 24 countries around the World. MoBen received close to 30 awards including 4 Ars Electronica awards (and the coveted Golden Nica). Since 2012, Maurice Benayoun is a professor of Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong.

    ISEA2016

    Maurice Benayoun, AKA MoBen, is a French media artist and curator based in Hong Kong. Pioneer of Open Media Art, MoBen’s highly diverse work explores all the artistic fields of expression using various media from video to urban installations, Internet to immersive art. The last decade he developed the concept of “Critical Fusion” as a way to interrogate all fields of human activities at the artistic, economic and political level. His work has been exhibited in Major Contemporary art Museums (Centre Pompidou, MAC Lyon, MAC Montreal, Kiasma (Hel- sinki), Eyebeam, Moving Image (NYC), ICC (Tokyo), Machida Museum, Museum of Art Seoul) Commissioned by biennials (Seoul 2012, ZERO1 San Jose 2012, Tokyo) and part of many public and private and public collections MoBen’s work won numerous international awards including the coveted Golden Nica, Ars Electronica Prize.

    MoBen has conceived and presented many urban screens art- works including – La Fiac Show Paris, the Streaming Museum 4th anniversary exhibition in New York City, Momentum – Berlin, Federation Square – Melbourne, the Concourse – Chatswood – Sydney, Sikka Art Fair- Dubai, Zero One San Jose, California and Seoul Square building, Korea. With Jeffrey Shaw, MoBen is the curator of Fleeting Light exhibition featuring Jim Campbell’s work, Eternal Recurrence, the first international artist work displayed on the ICC façade.

    Maurice Benayoun is presently Professor at the School of Creative Media City University of Hong Kong where he leads R&V research programme and the graduate studies, while setting up the Urban Transmedia MFA stream.

    His work employs various media, including (and often combining) video, immersive virtual reality, the Web, wireless technology, performance, large-scale urban art installations and interactive exhibitions.

    ISEA2015

    Maurice Benayoun (FR/HK), Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong.

    ISEA2011

    Maurice Benayoun is a pioneer new media artist living in Paris, France. His work and research explores the potentiality of various media from video, to virtual reality, Web and wireless art, public space large scale art installations and interactive exhibitions. His work has been widely exhibited all over the world and received numerous international awards and prizes. He has been exhibited in international museums: Centre Pompidou, Paris, Museum of Contemporary Art (Lyon, Montreal), Kiasma (Helsinki), Eye Beam and Moving Image (New York), ICC Tokyo, Beijing, Berlin, Seoul, New Delhi.

    From the Quarxs, one of the very first computer animation series in the early nineties to NeORIZON, a giant street installation in Shanghai (2008), not to forget the Tunnel under the Atlantic, World Skin, a Photo Safari in the Land of War (Golden Nica, Ars Electronica 1998), or the Mechanics of emotions, Benayoun’s work tries to exceed technologies by exploring new ways of creating meaning through experiencing metaphoric situations. Beside his art works, Maurice Benayoun has been involved in many large scale exhibitions, events and architecture projects including the permanent installation inside the Arc de Triomphe of Paris.

    His work is part of many public and private collections: the French National Fund of Contemporay Art (FNAC), Ars Electronica Center (Linz), eArts (Shanghai).  Since 1984, Maurice Benayoun has been teaching new media at the Université de Paris 1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and was an invited artist at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts of Paris. He is co-founder and art director of the CITU research centre and assistant professor at the University of Paris 8.

    In 2006 Maurice Benayoun started at CITU a research field on collaborative art, first  called INOUT, with workshops and exhibitions all over France(2008), then transformed into THE ART COLLIDER, with the participation of San Franisco Art Institute and Linz Kunst Universität in 2010.

    ISEA2000

    Ars Electronica Award 98 for World Skin. Graduated in Graphic Arts, cofounder of Z-A Production, considered as one of the most creative studio in the area of image processing and virtual reality, he explores digital images, interactivity and intelligent interfaces (Hypercube). He’s author of virtual reality installations and interactive set-up, he teaches at University of Paris I.

    ISEA1995

    This international award-winning video artist co­founded Z.A Productions (1988) where he does research on computer-generated 3D images while working in the cinema as a special effects art director. He lectures at University de Paris 1 and does collaborative work at CRECA (Centre de recherche et d’etude sur le Cinema) and the CRI (Centre de recherche sur (‘image). His most recent works include Les Quarks, the first 35 mm high-definition 3D series and Dieu est-il plat? and Le Diable est-il courbe?, two virtual reality creations.

    ISEA1994

    Maurice Benayoun (Z.A. Production) Maurice Benayoun (France,1957) teaches “Art Video and New Images” at the University of Paris. He has participated research projects about special effects and contributed new technology to audio-visual production and to the artist creativity within the Centre de Recherche et d’Etude sur le Cinema et les Arts Audiovisuel (CRECA) and the Centre de Recherche sur Image (CRI).

Website:


Last Known Location:


  • Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Previous Location(s):


  • Paris, FR
  • DZ

Art Event Organizer/Director/Curator:


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