Born in 1996 in Caracas, Venezuela. Lives and works between Amsterdam and Barcelona.
Manuela Ben Aïm is a multidisciplinary artist who works with the human body as both subject and material. She delves into the intimate, vulnerable, unspoken experiences that shape the shared yet individual human condition.
At the core of her layered practice is the creation of artificial skins, onto which she meticulously crafts the intrinsic characteristics of each person. These silicone forms become the foundation for her experiments, as she re-contextualizes the human body across a diverse range of media, including altered objects, performance, dance, and photography.
By enabling out-of-body relationships, her work challenges the boundaries of identity, showing how it can be upheld and diluted. In her exploration of gender, Ben Aïm reveals it as a modern conceptual invention, fluid and malleable. “Just like rubber,” she says, social constructs can stretch, reshape or expand, inviting viewers to reconsider the physical and conceptual limits of their bodies. Her work serves as a poignant reminder of our fragility and impermanence, yet also celebrates our uniqueness and interconnectedness. Each piece is a totem of singularity and oneness, contributing to a broader tapestry of human diversity and experience.
Selected group exhibitions
- 2026Kristin Hjellegjerde — West Palm Beach, Florida (forthcoming)
- 2025Body Archive — Kristin Hjellegjerde, Berlin
- 2025Habitar el cuerpo — Sorondo Projects, Barcelona
- 2024Echoes of Paradise — Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
- 2023Shapeshifting — W139, Amsterdam
- 202351 años de desnudo — Spazio Zero, Caracas
- 2022Próxima — Hacienda La Trinidad, Caracas
- 2021Interludio — GBG Arts, Caracas
- 2021Luis Ángel Duque — Galería Freites, Caracas
- 2020Textile Art Exhibition — Daesan Museum of Art, South Korea
- 2019STAARTA — New York
- 2018The Philadelphia Furniture Show — 23rd Street Armory, Philadelphia
- 2018Next Generation Crafts — The Kimmel Center for Performing Arts, Philadelphia
- 2017Back to Nature — The Kimmel Center, Philadelphia
- 2017Chiaroscuro — Solmssen Court, Philadelphia
- 2016First Look — Gallery One, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia
Solo exhibitions
- 2026BETA Contemporary — Barcelona (forthcoming)
- 2026HOM(M)E — Stichting Het Salon, Amsterdam
- 2023OSMOSIS — Door Open Space, Amsterdam
Awards, residencies & scholarships
- 2025AFK – Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst — Amsterdam
- 2023Arsenal Residency — Metz, France
- 2022Door Foundation Residency — Amsterdam
- 2022TRANS Residency, with Ernesto Artillo — Cabo de Gata, Spain
- 2020Rosalie Borowsky Belkin Award
- 2020Florence Whistler Fish Award — honorable mention
- 2017Haystack School of Crafts residency — Maine
- 2017William Daley Fellow Award — Haystack School of Crafts
Collaborations
- 2024Autonomy by Chella Man — The Jewish Museum, New York
- 2023Vénus Anatomique by Sarah Baltzinger — Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg
- 2022Nadie by Ernesto Artillo — Espacio el Limbo, Almería
- 2022Autonomy by Peter DeVito — short film
Education
- 2020BFA Fine Arts, Minor in Craft and Material Studies — University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Outstanding Student award